NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – Oil prices surged more than 4% on Friday as Brent crude settled above $88 a barrel. Brent futures rose $3.87, or 4.59%, to close at $88.10. U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained $3.54, or 4.48%, to finish at $82.49. Both benchmarks reached their highest closing levels since mid-June. Brent advanced about 16% for the week and recorded a third straight weekly gain. WTI posted a similar weekly increase and extended its winning run to two weeks.
Trading reflected another steep decline in commercial vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The route carries a major share of global oil and gas exports. Only three commodity vessels crossed the waterway on Thursday, the lowest daily total since May. Eleven vessels made the passage on Wednesday. Before the conflict, the daily average stood near 125. No very large crude carriers or liquefied natural gas tankers crossed for a second consecutive day, limiting the movement of key energy cargoes from Gulf ports.
Oil markets also tracked disruptions across several regional shipping points. Iraq briefly stopped crude loadings at the Basra terminal after a drone struck a tanker. Operations later resumed at the facility. Two large crude carriers, each capable of holding about 2 million barrels, appeared outside Hormuz after leaving the Gulf earlier in the week. The renewed decline in shipping activity came as crude futures recorded their largest one-day increases of the week. Energy prices rose broadly across international markets during Friday’s session.
Hormuz slowdown tightens regional oil flows
The International Energy Agency said Gulf oil exports increased by 6.5 million barrels a day in June. Total shipments reached 16.1 million barrels a day. That level remained well below the 24 million barrels recorded before the conflict. Crude oil and condensate accounted for most of the monthly increase. Gulf production also rose by 3.5 million barrels a day. However, output stayed 11.4 million barrels below earlier levels, showing that production and exports had not returned to previous volumes.
The International Energy Agency also recorded a 21 million barrel rise in observed global oil inventories during June. It marked the first monthly increase in four months. Oil held at sea grew by 117 million barrels, while onshore stocks dropped by about 96 million. Government stock releases accounted for 44 million barrels of that decline. Gulf exports of refined products and liquefied petroleum gas remained below half of pre-conflict levels. Crude shipments recovered to nearly three-quarters of their earlier rate.
Weekly rally lifts global crude benchmarks
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Brent spot prices averaged $85 a barrel in June, down $22 from May. Prices later fell below $70 on July 1 before climbing again during the first half of July. The agency estimated that global oil inventories declined by 5.1 million barrels a day in the second quarter. It also put average production shut-ins at 8.3 million barrels a day in June. Those losses had reached a peak of 11.2 million barrels a day in May.
Friday’s close left Brent $12.09 above its July 10 settlement of $76.01. WTI ended $11.08 above its closing price of $71.41 one week earlier. Those moves represented weekly gains of about 15.9% for Brent and 15.5% for WTI. Energy shares formed the only major U.S. stock market sector to finish higher on Friday. Both crude contracts settled near their session peaks, ending a week shaped by strong price gains, lower tanker traffic and continued limits on Gulf energy exports.