Oil prices rose on Friday, October 23, 2026, as escalating tensions in the Middle East raised concerns about international petroleum supplies. According to the EnergyNow Morning Oil Price Report, prepared at 5:35 a.m. MDT using TradingView prices, WTI crude was approximately US$100.94 per barrel, up US$1.47, or 1.48%, from Thursday's official settlement of US$99.47.
Brent crude was approximately US$114.51 per barrel, up US$1.34, or 1.18%, from Thursday's settlement of US$113.17. Brent briefly touched US$114.72 during Friday's trading, its highest level since May. The report notes that exact transaction timestamps were unavailable, so the figures represent the latest accessible indications rather than simultaneous trades at a precise moment.
The report attributes Friday's gains primarily to attacks on Saudi Arabian infrastructure and threats to Middle East shipping. Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company ordered employees to evacuate its headquarters in Dhahran on Thursday as fighting intensified between Saudi forces and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement. The conflict has intensified around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategic passage connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo warned that further escalation could trigger additional supply disruptions, particularly with shipping flows already volatile and freight costs elevated, according to the report. Additional supply pressure came from Libya, where the National Oil Corporation reported that a pipeline valve connecting the Hamada and Tahara oilfields with the port of Zawiya had been closed, reducing production at both fields. Partly offsetting these concerns, a Malta-flagged tanker carrying approximately 40,000 metric tonnes of Russian diesel is reportedly heading toward New York following agreements allowing Russia to resume certain fuel exports.
The shipments could help ease refined-product shortages, although they do not eliminate broader crude-oil supply risks. Brent is heading toward a third consecutive weekly gain, while WTI remains on course for a modest weekly decline despite Friday's rally. The indicative Brent-WTI premium stood at approximately US$13.57 per barrel.
The December 2026 WTI contract is now the primary US benchmark, as November WTI expired on October 20. The Brent December contract expires on October 30, and the report warns that rollover could introduce price differences as trading shifts toward January delivery. The report identifies several risks to the market outlook, including further attacks on Saudi oil production, refining or export facilities, continued threats near the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, extended Libyan pipeline disruptions, and the possibility of a broader U.S.-Iran military confrontation.
The immediate question for traders, according to the report, is whether continued attacks on Saudi infrastructure and international shipping will push Brent above US$115 per barrel and sustain the geopolitical risk premium into next week. For Canadian producers, the report notes that the Western Canadian Select differential remains exceptionally wide. The latest independently verified WCS assessment cited is from Friday, October 16, when WCS for November delivery at Hardisty, Alberta, settled at a US$27.00-per-barrel discount to WTI, compared with US$26.40 on October 15, according to brokerage CalRock as reported by Reuters.
The discount remains more than US$15 wider than at the comparable point last year. The report attributes the widening to growing Venezuelan heavy-crude imports into the U.S. Gulf Coast, refinery disruptions, increasing Canadian oil sands production and tighter pipeline utilization.
Analysts at TD Cowen cited the wide discount as reinforcing the importance of additional Canadian crude export capacity and access to international markets, according to the BOE Report. Sources: EnergyNow Morning Oil Price Report (October 23, 2026), TradingView, Reuters, CalRock, BOE Report, UBS, TD Cowen.
Source: energynow.com