Oil climbs Thursday; Brent nears $96 after a projectile strikes a tanker off Saudi Arabia

In Thursday trading on July 23, 2026, oil prices rose again. Brent crude futures for September delivery gained about 2 percent to 95.99 dollars a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate advanced roughly 1.7 percent to 88.27 dollars.

The main driver was a report that a projectile struck a tanker in waters off Saudi Arabia, deepening worries about disruption to cargoes moving through the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump warned that he would target Iranian infrastructure in response to any attack on ships transiting the strait.

The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly a fifth of the world's oil, and any sign of disruption feeds directly into inflation expectations and the gold and currency markets, the main channel through which these tensions reach Iran's markets.