Oil price today: Brent crude near $117 as Middle East tensions threaten shipments
Oil price today, 25 October 2026
Brent crude, the global benchmark, traded around $116 to $117 a barrel in the early hours of Sunday 25 October 2026, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded near $103 a barrel. Prices move intraday and differ slightly between data providers: OilPriceAPI put Brent at $117.38 and WTI at $103.44 at 05:29 UTC, while Economies.com recorded Brent at $116.72 at 04:10 UTC. MarketWatch reported Brent up 2.8 per cent at $116.28, just below the post-war settlement high of $118.35 seen on 31 March.
Why oil prices are rising
The driver is supply risk, not demand. Tanker attacks have spread beyond the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway carrying roughly a fifth of the world's oil — into the Gulf of Oman, according to LSEG analysts. Ship-tracking firm Kpler counted at least 18 vessel attacks over a two-week period, and a supertanker caught fire after striking a sea mine south of the strait, according to Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy.
The Houthis also claimed responsibility for attacks on a Saudi Aramco site in Yanbu, the Shaybah oilfield and airports in Riyadh and Abha, Saudi Arabia. Fighting in Yemen intensified, with the death toll from a Houthi attack on Yemeni government forces rising to 73, Reuters reported.
What it means for drivers and bills
Crude is only part of what drivers pay at the pump — refining margins, distribution and tax make up a large share — but sustained Brent prices above $110 feed through to fuel costs, transport, manufacturing and inflation, and put pressure on countries that import most of their oil. Brent is the reference price for about two-thirds of the world's crude supply.
For context, Brent's daily averages rose from $108.40 on Monday 19 October to $115.00 on Friday 23 October, according to OilPriceAPI history. Prices can reverse quickly if tensions ease or shipments resume normally, so treat any single quote as a snapshot, not a forecast.
Sources: OilPriceAPI price data, 25 October 2026; MarketWatch; Economies.com; Reuters reporting via DailyGraph. This article is market news, not investment advice.
