Commodities

Oil Holds Near Five-Month High as Tanker Attacks Offset Peace Hopes

Brent held near $109 on Oct. 21, 2026, after earlier topping $110, as Gulf shipping attacks and a U.S. crude stock draw met signs of Russia-Ukraine talks.

Oct 21, 2026 - 12:25

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Oil prices swung on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, with Brent crude holding near a five-month high as continued attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf region and a drop in U.S. crude inventories were balanced against signs of possible progress toward Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

Prices through the session

Early in the day, Brent crude futures gained $2.06, or 1.9%, to $110.85 a barrel by 10:48 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.13, or 2.2%, to $99.95, Reuters reported. The early rise came after Iran said there was little reason to expect diplomatic progress with the United States.

By 10:50 a.m. ET, those gains had largely faded. Brent was up 27 cents, or 0.2%, at $109.04, and WTI was down 11 cents, or 0.1%, at $97.72, according to a later Reuters report. On Tuesday, Brent had touched its highest level in five months and WTI a six-month peak before prices fell back on reports of mediation efforts discussed at a meeting between Iran's president and Pakistan's army chief in Tehran.

Supply risks in the Gulf

Reuters cited Kpler data showing at least 18 attacks on vessels over the past two weeks, and said LSEG analysts warned that Iran was targeting tankers beyond the Strait of Hormuz, into the Gulf of Oman, putting Gulf crude loadings and ship-to-ship transfers at risk. Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial, said in a client note that at least two more ships had been struck overnight. Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility on Monday for attacks on a Saudi Aramco site in Yanbu, the Shaybah oilfield and two Saudi airports, according to Reuters.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, told the Financial Times that Iran was fully prepared to defend itself, and President Masoud Pezeshkian told state media the U.S. could not expect dialogue while blockading and threatening Iran, Reuters reported.

A Kitco News report said Middle Eastern crude shipments averaged about 24.6 million barrels per day in the week ending October 18, above the prewar average of 23.3 million, as producers used alternative export routes, while flows directly through Hormuz remained about 33% below prewar levels.

Russia-Ukraine talks

Pulling in the other direction, the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to resume U.S.-mediated peace talks with Ukraine as soon as next month, after meeting U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, Reuters reported. Kissler said progress in those talks had weighed on crude prices, noting that a peace deal could ease tight global diesel supplies.

U.S. inventories and policy steps

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that commercial crude stocks fell by 3.06 million barrels to 412.5 million barrels last week, a larger draw than the 820,000 barrels analysts had expected in a Reuters poll. Distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, rose 1.68 million barrels to 104.3 million barrels, compared with expectations for a 1.16 million-barrel decline.

The Department of Energy said on Wednesday the administration is offering to loan up to nearly a third of the 1-million-barrel U.S. emergency heating oil reserve, aiming to contain prices that have risen on diesel shortages linked to the wars in Iran and Ukraine, according to Reuters. Two Energy Department officials said on Tuesday they were working with refiners worldwide to increase fuel output.

Recent price path

Data compiled by World Oil Monitor show WTI settled at $98.16 and Brent at $109.16 on October 20, compared with $89.65 and $98.44, respectively, on September 22.