Oil Prices
Commodities
Delayed · ~15 minLive market data · delayed ~15 min · Source: Yahoo Finance
Market Context · Oil is the economy’s most political price: set by global supply and demand, but moved by wars, cartels and inventories. The data table above updates automatically (delayed ~15 minutes). The narrative below is current as of the October 13, 2026 close and is updated on market events.
What is happening
Brent crude closed October 13 near $105.81 a barrel and WTI near $93.94 — elevated levels held up by Middle East supply risk, including attacks on Saudi Arabia and threats to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Reports of additional Russian diesel supply and an unconfirmed Russia–Ukraine energy truce offset only part of that risk premium. The wide Brent–WTI gap reflects the geography of the risk: Brent prices the seaborne market exposed to Hormuz; WTI prices US inland supply, where shale output and inventories cushion the shock.
Why it matters
Inflation. Energy is the fastest channel from geopolitics to household budgets — fuel and transport costs feed headline inflation within weeks, which is why oil above $105 complicates the Federal Reserve’s path even when core inflation cools. The link runs through Treasury yields: energy-driven inflation keeps yields — and borrowing costs — higher.
Winners and losers. Energy producers and exporters gain revenue; airlines, transport and chemicals pay it. Oil-importing economies (much of Asia and Europe) feel a terms-of-trade squeeze, while the US — a net exporter — is partly insulated at the national level even as its drivers pay more at the pump.
Sentiment. Oil is the market’s real-time geopolitical gauge: a spike rarely stays in the energy market, because it re-prices inflation expectations everywhere at once. The pricing mechanics — benchmarks, futures and the curve — are in What Drives Oil Prices and Futures vs Spot.
What could change the picture
The Strait of Hormuz. Roughly a fifth of global oil supply transits it; any confirmed disruption is the single largest upside risk to price. OPEC+. The cartel’s next output decision — and whether members actually comply — sets the supply floor. US inventories. The weekly EIA report (Wednesdays) is the highest-frequency demand signal; draws tighten, builds loosen. China. Demand data from the world’s largest importer can re-price the demand side in a day.
What happened before
2022. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Brent spiked above $120 as markets priced the loss of Russian supply — then retraced over the following year as demand fears replaced supply fears. The episode is the modern template: spikes are fast, and they decay when the physical market adapts. 2020. In April 2020, WTI futures settled negative — sellers paid buyers to take oil — when lockdowns destroyed demand faster than storage could absorb supply. The two episodes bracket oil’s range of behavior: it is a price that can break in either direction when the physical market seizes. These are observations, not forecasts.
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Go deeper: What Drives Oil Prices · Why Copper Is Called Dr. Copper · US Treasury Yields — Market Context · The US Dollar — Market Context · The Commodities desk · Daily coverage in The Global Close.
Market Context pages combine automatically updated data (delayed ~15 minutes; source: Yahoo Finance) with editorial narrative updated on market events, not continuously. Narrative figures are as of the date shown. For information and education only — not investment advice.