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EnergyNow Friday Oil Price Report
Report Date & Time: September 25, 2026 – 2:59 p.m. MDT – Using Trading View Prices
Summary
- WTI crude settled Friday at US$92.41 per barrel, down US$2.20, or 2.33%, from Thursday’s US$94.61 settlement. Compared with last Friday’s US$100.30 close, WTI fell US$7.89, or 7.87%, for the week — its first weekly decline since late August.
- Brent crude settled at US$104.32 per barrel, down US$2.28, or 2.14%, from Thursday’s US$106.60 settlement. Against the US$103.87 settlement reported for September 18, Brent finished the week US$0.45, or 0.43%, higher, underscoring how much stronger the international market has been than WTI. Reuters
- Friday’s selloff was driven primarily by growing expectations that the United States and Iran could negotiate a path toward ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Those hopes outweighed continuing Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and persistent concerns about tight international crude and diesel supplies. Reuters
Friday Closing Prices
WTI finished Friday at US$92.41, down US$2.20, or 2.33%, from Thursday’s US$94.61 settlement.
Brent closed at US$104.32, down US$2.28, or 2.14%, from Thursday’s US$106.60. Reuters
The unusually wide Brent-WTI premium finished at approximately US$11.91 per barrel. That gap illustrates the increasingly different conditions facing the North American and international crude markets: WTI is being pressured by U.S. market factors, while Brent continues to carry a substantial Middle East supply and transportation premium.
Weekly Performance
WTI’s decline was dramatic. From last Friday’s US$100.30 settlement, the U.S. benchmark lost US$7.89 per barrel, or 7.87%, ending the week at $92.41. Market Data
Brent behaved very differently. Using last Friday’s US$103.87 settlement, Brent gained US$0.45, or 0.43%, for the week, despite Friday’s sharp decline.
The contrasting weekly performance widened the Brent-WTI spread from roughly US$3.57 last Friday to US$11.91 today.
WTI also completed its rollover from the October to November contract this week. That contract transition contributed to some of the apparent week-to-week decline because the incoming November contract traded materially below the expiring October contract. The weekly WTI comparison therefore includes a futures-contract rollover effect and should not be interpreted entirely as a like-for-like collapse in the same contract.
Why Oil Moved
The dominant story Friday was diplomacy between the United States and Iran.
Reuters reported that Washington and Tehran are exploring a possible path out of the conflict that could ultimately involve Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and the United States lifting its blockade of Iranian ports. Traders responded by removing some of the geopolitical premium built into crude prices.
That optimism competed with continuing supply risks.
Iran-backed Houthi forces have intensified attacks against Saudi Arabia, raising concerns about infrastructure supplying both the Persian Gulf and Red Sea export routes. Saudi Arabia restarted its strategically important East-West Pipeline earlier this week after September 11 drone attacks damaged three pumping stations.
The physical market therefore remains significantly tighter than Friday’s crude-price decline alone suggests.
Key Developments to Watch Next Week
The most important issue will be whether U.S.-Iran negotiations produce a concrete agreement rather than additional diplomatic signals. Any credible timetable for reopening Hormuz could remove considerably more geopolitical premium from Brent.
Saudi infrastructure and Houthi attacks remain another major risk. Renewed damage to the East-West Pipeline or Yanbu export facilities could quickly reverse Friday’s decline.
Markets will also watch U.S. crude inventories, refinery operations and diesel supplies. Diesel remains exceptionally tight internationally, creating the possibility that refined-product shortages continue supporting crude even if geopolitical tensions ease.
Finally, the unusually large Brent-WTI differential bears watching. A sustained spread near $12 would significantly improve the economics of exporting U.S. crude into international markets.
Bottom Line
Oil ended a volatile week with a sharp Friday decline, but the headline numbers conceal a major divergence.
WTI dropped almost 8% on the week to $92.41, while Brent finished slightly above last Friday at $104.32.
The market is increasingly pricing two different realities: improving prospects for U.S.-Iran diplomacy and ample North American crude on one side, versus disrupted international shipping, Saudi security risks and tight refined-product markets on the other.
Next week’s direction could hinge on whether diplomatic optimism translates into actual increases in tanker traffic through Hormuz.
Western Canadian Select (WCS)
The latest publicly available Friday WCS indication located at publication time was approximately US$82.26 per barrel. The same market-price source showed WTI around US$92.50, implying an indicative WTI-WCS spread of approximately US$10.24 per barrel.
For comparison, the same public WCS series reported WCS at US$87.95 on Friday, September 18. Against that Friday’s US$100.30 WTI settlement, the indicative spread was approximately US$12.35 per barrel. OilMonster
On that basis, the indicative WTI-WCS discount narrowed by approximately US$2.11 per barrel week over week, from roughly $12.35 to $10.24.
There is an important methodology qualification. Friday’s $82.26 WCS figure and $92.50 WTI indication are market-price snapshots rather than synchronized official Hardisty and NYMEX settlements. The official WTI futures settlement was $92.41, only nine cents different from that WTI snapshot, but the WCS assessment methodology and timestamp are not identical. The $10.24 spread should therefore be viewed as an indicative Friday comparison, not an exact simultaneously assessed physical differential.
Who Watches the WCS Price
Oil sands producers realize WCS-linked prices on unhedged production, and their capital plans key off the differential outlook. US Midwest and Gulf Coast refiners with coking capacity buy WCS as feedstock and treat the differential as their margin opportunity. The Alberta government forecasts royalty and tax revenue directly off WCS — a one-dollar move in the differential is worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the provincial budget over a fiscal year. And diluent demand links WCS volumes back to condensate markets.
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