Oil Falls for Second Straight Week as Surplus Signals Outweigh Gulf Attacks; Natural Gas Gains 7.7%

Oil prices posted a second consecutive weekly decline on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, as signs of a growing global supply surplus and rising U.S. inventories outweighed continuing attacks on tankers and energy infrastructure in the Middle East. U.S. natural gas futures moved the other way, ending the week with a gain of nearly 8% despite a sharp drop on Friday.

Crude settles mixed, down about 2.5% for the week

Brent crude futures for January delivery settled at $95.84 a barrel on Friday, up 2 cents, or 0.02%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for December delivery finished at $88.56, down 18 cents, or 0.20%, Reuters reported. WTI reached an intraday high of $89.64 and Brent peaked at $97.13 before both benchmarks pared gains, according to DTN.

Brent lost $2.48, or 2.52%, for the week from the previous Friday's $98.32 settlement, and WTI fell $2.27, or 2.50%, from $90.83, according to an EnergyNow tally using matching contract months. The declines followed a much steeper sell-off in the week ended Nov. 6, when Brent fell about 16% and WTI about 13%, Reuters said. The premium of Brent over WTI ended near $7.28 a barrel, compared with $7.49 a week earlier, EnergyNow said.

From shortage fears to surplus fears

The International Energy Agency's monthly report, released on Friday, pointed to a rising global oil surplus, adding to a shift in market sentiment as perceived risks from the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran eased, Reuters said. "It's clear the biggest fear a few months ago was a fear of shortage," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with the Price Futures Group. "Now it looks like the biggest fear is a surplus."

U.S. crude and fuel inventories rose in the latest week, driven by softer demand for refined products and a jump in oil imports, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday. Sugandha Sachdeva, founder of New Delhi-based research firm SS WealthStreet, told Reuters the build pointed to a relatively subdued U.S. consumption outlook.

Geopolitical risks have not disappeared. On Thursday, Iran's military said four oil tankers were hit by explosions in the Strait of Hormuz after ignoring warnings, accounts Reuters said it could not immediately verify. The same day, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said they had attacked a pumping station on Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline, an oil facility in the Red Sea city of Yanbu and an Aramco building in Riyadh. President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that a deal with Iran was not necessary to end the war.

"The oil market is torn between increased supply coming out of the Middle East and that there hasn't been any change in the negotiating positions of the United States and Iran," Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, told Reuters.

Natural gas gains for a second week

Front-month Nymex natural gas for December delivery fell 11 cents, or 3.29%, on Friday to settle at $3.23 per million British thermal units, its largest one-day percentage decline since Oct. 23, according to Dow Jones Market Data. For the week, the contract still gained 23.2 cents, or 7.74%, its second straight weekly advance.

Natural gas is up 11.46% so far in November but down 12.37% for the year to date, Dow Jones data show. The contract remains 56.7% below its 52-week high of $7.46 reached on Jan. 28 and 28.02% above its 52-week low of $2.523 hit on April 24. On Friday, in a release delayed by the holiday week, the EIA reported that working gas in U.S. storage rose by 61 billion cubic feet to 3,862 Bcf in the week ended Nov. 6, leaving inventories 75 Bcf above the five-year average and 92 Bcf below a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 67 Bcf build, FXNews reported.

Drilling activity edges lower

The number of active U.S. drilling rigs fell by three to 601 in the week to Nov. 13, according to Baker Hughes. Oil-directed rigs were unchanged at 463, while gas-directed rigs declined to 127, a drop that RBN Energy attributed mainly to the Haynesville shale region. Miscellaneous rigs rose to 11. Canada's rig count increased by 10 to 233.