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EnergyNow Morning Oil Price Report
Report Date & Time: September 25, 2026 – 5:28 a.m. MDT – Using Trading View Prices
Summary
- WTI crude is approximately US$92.93 per barrel, down US$1.68, or 1.78%, from Thursday’s official US$94.61 settlement. Oil is clearly lower this morning as markets focus on the possibility of a U.S.-Iran truce despite continuing attacks on Saudi Arabia.
- Brent crude is approximately US$105.52 per barrel, down US$1.08, or 1.01%, from Thursday’s US$106.60 settlement. Brent nevertheless remains considerably stronger than WTI because Middle East supply disruptions continue to support the international benchmark.
- A striking Brent-WTI spread of roughly US$12.60 per barrel highlights the increasingly different conditions facing international and U.S. crude markets. Reuters says concerns over a possible U.S. diesel-export ban are contributing to the unusually wide gap.
Latest Oil Prices
As of approximately 5:28 a.m. MDT Friday, WTI was trading near US$92.93 per barrel, down US$1.68, or 1.78%, from Thursday’s $94.61 settlement.
Brent was approximately US$105.52, down US$1.08, or 1.01%, from Thursday’s $106.60 settlement.
Thursday had produced a major rebound. Brent gained US$3.52, or 3.4%, while WTI rose US$2.45, or 2.7%, after Houthi missile attacks on Saudi Arabia revived fears of further supply disruptions.
WTI is now firmly on the November 2026 contract, following this week’s rollover from October. There is therefore no significant contract-roll distortion in today’s day-over-day comparison.
Why Oil Is Moving
The primary bearish influence this morning is renewed optimism that diplomacy could begin reducing the Middle East risk premium.
U.S. and Iranian negotiators in New York are exploring a phased route toward ending the conflict, which could involve Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Washington lifting its economic blockade. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Thursday that it was up to the United States to determine when the war ends.
Those diplomatic hopes are outweighing, at least temporarily, renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Saudi forces intercepted six Houthi ballistic missiles targeting Taif and the Yanbu area Thursday. The attacks are particularly important because Yanbu is the Red Sea terminus of Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline and an essential alternative to exports through Hormuz.
Key Market Risks or Catalysts
The most important physical-market issue remains the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments have been curtailed since the Iran war began at the end of February, according to Reuters.
Saudi Arabia is increasing flows through its East-West Pipeline, but crude tanker loadings from Yanbu had not yet resumed as of Thursday. A restart of those exports would provide another important route for Middle Eastern barrels to reach world markets.
Another major development is the widening Brent-WTI spread, which reached as much as US$12.83 per barrel — its widest since May. Normally the two benchmarks move much more closely together.
Talk of possible U.S. restrictions on diesel exports is contributing to that divergence. If refiners cannot export surplus diesel, markets expect them to reduce crude processing, potentially weakening domestic WTI demand even while international crude remains tight.
Bottom Line
Oil is giving back part of Thursday’s sharp rally, but the decline reflects diplomatic expectations rather than a normalization of physical supply.
WTI is back below $93 while Brent remains above $105, creating an unusually wide gap between North American and international crude.
The next major move will likely depend on whether U.S.-Iran negotiations produce tangible progress and whether tanker traffic through Hormuz or Saudi exports from Yanbu actually recover.
Until then, crude is likely to remain exceptionally sensitive to Middle East headlines.
Western Canadian Select (WCS)
A sufficiently reliable Thursday, September 24 outright WCS Hardisty closing price and directly matched WTI assessment was not publicly available by the time of this report.
The latest independently verified physical-market assessment available remains the September 21 Platts assessment, when WCS at Hardisty traded at a US$21.35-per-barrel discount to WTI CMA, widening US$0.35 per barrel from the previous trading day’s US$21.00 discount.
Because that assessment is against WTI CMA, rather than today’s NYMEX November WTI futures quote of roughly US$92.93, subtracting the $21.35 differential from today’s WTI price would produce an asynchronous and methodologically incorrect WCS price. For that reason, this report is not presenting an invented current outright WCS value.
The latest verified WCS comparison is therefore: WCS Hardisty = WTI CMA minus US$21.35 per barrel, with the discount US$0.35 wider than the previous session. S&P Global attributed the widening to major refinery maintenance removing roughly 750,000 bpd of demand, rising Western Canadian production and reduced spare pipeline capacity as Trans Mountain operates near full capacity.
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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