Oil fell about 3 percent on Friday but closed the week with its biggest weekly gain in months

Global oil prices fell about 3 percent in trading on Friday, 24 July 2026. Brent futures dropped 2.93 percent to 97.72 dollars a barrel and West Texas Intermediate fell 2.52 percent to 89.87 dollars. Despite the pullback, Brent finished the week up roughly 10 percent and WTI up 8.9 percent, the biggest weekly advances for both benchmarks in months.

The week's main driver was the intensifying regional conflict. Early on Friday the United States carried out a thirteenth consecutive wave of strikes on targets in Iran, and during the week Houthi forces claimed responsibility for attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, raising the risk around another key global energy transit route alongside the Strait of Hormuz. Friday's decline was attributed largely to reports of a possible resumption of US-Iran talks.

The swing reaches Iran's market through two channels: the risk premium in global crude feeds domestic inflation expectations and the currency market, and the coming week's direction is tied to the US Federal Reserve decision on 28 and 29 July and to OPEC+ positioning.