NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – Oil prices climbed more than 4% on Friday. Brent crude moved above $88 a barrel, while both major benchmarks reached their highest closes in more than a month. Brent futures gained $3.87, or 4.59%, to settle at $88.10 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose $3.54, or 4.48%, to $82.49. Both contracts gained about 16% for the week. Brent posted a third consecutive weekly increase, while WTI recorded its second.
The rally came during another sharp reduction in commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway remains a central route for global oil and gas shipments. Only three commodity vessels crossed on Thursday, the lowest daily count since May. Eleven vessels passed through on Wednesday, compared with an average of 125 a day before the conflict. No very large crude carriers or liquefied natural gas tankers crossed for a second straight day.
The United States and Iran expanded attacks on infrastructure during the week, while restrictions again reduced Gulf shipping activity. Iraq briefly halted oil loadings at its Basra terminal after a drone struck a tanker. Loadings later resumed. Two large crude carriers, each holding about 2 million barrels, appeared outside Hormuz after leaving the Gulf earlier in the week. Those events unfolded as crude futures recorded their largest daily gains of the week and energy prices rose across international markets.
Hormuz traffic falls as crude advances
The International Energy Agency reported that Gulf oil exports rose by 6.5 million barrels a day in June. Total exports reached 16.1 million barrels a day. That remained below the 24 million barrels a day recorded before the conflict. Crude and condensate shipments drove most of the monthly increase. Gulf production rose by 3.5 million barrels a day, but stayed 11.4 million barrels below earlier levels. The figures showed only a partial recovery before the latest decline in vessel traffic.
The International Energy Agency also said global observed oil inventories increased by 21 million barrels in June. That marked their first monthly rise in four months. Oil held on water increased by 117 million barrels, while onshore stocks fell by about 96 million. Government stock releases accounted for 44 million barrels of the onshore decline. Refined product and liquefied petroleum gas exports from the Gulf remained below half of pre-conflict levels, while crude flows reached nearly three-quarters of earlier rates.
Weekly gains lift both 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 recovering during the first half of July. The agency estimated global oil inventories declined by 5.1 million barrels a day during the second quarter. It also estimated production shut-ins averaged 8.3 million barrels a day in June, after peaking at 11.2 million in May.
Friday’s settlement left Brent $12.09 above its July 10 close of $76.01. WTI finished $11.08 above its $71.41 close from one week earlier. Those changes equaled weekly gains of about 15.9% for Brent and 15.5% for WTI. Energy shares were the only major U.S. stock market sector to finish higher on Friday. Both oil contracts ended near their session highs, closing a week marked by steep price gains and reduced tanker movement through Hormuz.