Oil steadies near one-month high on Thursday as profit-taking caps four-day rally

Oil prices eased slightly on Thursday, July 16, 2026, after four straight sessions of gains, steadying near their highest level in a month. Brent crude slipped about 0.2 percent to around $84.8 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate to about $79.5, as some traders took profits following a rally of more than 11 percent over the prior three sessions.

Even so, concern over supply disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, after intensified US strikes on Iran and the reimposition of a naval blockade of Iranian ports, kept a floor under prices. The strait carries roughly a fifth of the world's oil, and swings there feed directly into Iran's oil revenue and the global energy market.