As of 8 a.m. Eastern Time on October 27, 2026, Brent crude was trading at $115.13 per barrel, according to Fortune. That is 28 cents below the previous morning's level of $115.41, a decline of 0.24%.
Compared with one month earlier, when the price stood at $101.86, Brent is up 13.02%. Against a year earlier, when it was $65.75, the benchmark is up 75.10%, or about $49 per barrel (Source: Fortune, "Current price of oil as of October 27, 2026", fortune.com). Fortune notes that no one can say with certainty where oil prices will move next.
Many forces shape the market, but at its core the price reflects supply and demand. Risks such as a potential recession or war can cause prices to change direction quickly. The outlet also cites geopolitics and decisions by OPEC+ as factors that shape the price of oil per barrel.
In the United States, Fortune says, policy toward drilling can affect future supply. As an example, the article states that in 2025 the Trump administration moved to reopen more than 1.5 million acres of the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing, reversing the Biden administration's policy of limiting oil drilling in the Arctic. According to Fortune, the oil price updates continuously while futures markets are open.
A futures market is effectively an auction in which participants agree to buy or sell oil at a future date, so the price keeps changing as long as contracts are being traded. At the pump, crude oil has the largest influence on what consumers pay, often accounting for more than half the cost per gallon. The remainder reflects refining, wholesaling, taxes and the markup added by local gas stations.
Fortune describes an asymmetry in retail pricing: when oil rises, gasoline prices usually climb with it, but when oil falls, pump prices tend to decline much more slowly, a pattern the outlet calls "rockets and feathers". Fortune also explains the role of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a backup supply of crude oil.
It is mainly intended to protect energy security during crises such as sanctions, catastrophic storm damage or war, and it can help cushion the impact of supply shocks. The outlet stresses that the reserve is not meant to solve long-term problems. Instead, it provides short-term relief for consumers and helps keep essential industries, emergency services and public transit operating.
Oil and natural gas are two of the world's primary energy sources, and a significant move in oil prices can affect natural gas as well. Fortune notes that if oil prices rise, some industries may switch to natural gas for parts of their operations where possible, which increases demand for natural gas. On benchmarks, Fortune argues that Brent offers a better picture of global oil performance because it prices a large share of the world's traded crude.
The outlet also reports that the U.S. Energy Information Administration uses Brent as its primary reference in its Annual Energy Outlook. Fortune describes Brent's long-term record as far from stable, with sharp increases tied to wars and supply cuts and steep declines linked to global recessions and oversupply.
In the outlet's words, the historical performance of oil is heavily influenced by wars, recessions, OPEC decisions and shifting energy policies. Finally, Fortune points out that expensive oil tends to raise the cost of everyday goods, both directly through energy bills and indirectly through logistics, since shipping costs feed into the price of products on store shelves. The outlet also notes that U.S. shale, rock containing oil and natural gas, can add supply and help prevent oil prices from spiking as sharply.
Source: Fortune (fortune.com), article "Current price of oil as of October 27, 2026".
Source: fortune.com