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Informist, Monday, Mar. 9, 2026

 

--Near-month Brent crude at $109.47/bbl vs $92.69 Fri, highest since Jul '22 

--Near-month WTI crude at $110.40/bbl vs $90.90 Fri, highest since June 2022 

 

MUMBAI – Crude oil prices surged over 25% Monday, rising to a nearly four-year high, as persistent hostilities in West Asia have raised concerns about prolonged disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. Some major oil producers in West Asia have started cutting supplies, which also supported prices. Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices surged past the $100-per-barrel mark for the first time since 2022, when Russia had invaded Ukraine.

 

At 0836 IST, the May futures contract of Brent crude oil on the Intercontinental Exchange was $114.81 per barrel, up around 24%, after rising to an intraday high of $119.5 per barrel. The April contract of WTI crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 25% at $113.82 per barrel, after rising to a high of $119.48 per barrel.

 

"Over the weekend, there were no signs of de-escalation (in West Asia). If anything, the situation appears to be deteriorating further," Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING Economics, said in a report. "In addition, upstream oil production has started to shut-in, with producers facing storage constraints."

 

Iraq, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates began reducing oil production. On Saturday, the Kuwait Petroleum Corp. began cutting oil output and declared force majeure, adding to earlier oil and gas reductions from Iraq and Qatar as the US-Iran hostilities blocked shipments from the West Asia, Reuters reported.

 

"The longer this goes on, the more supply we will see shut-in. This is a concern for markets. Even if flows through the Strait of Hormuz start to resume, it will take time for upstream production to ramp up. The combination of these production shut-ins and no signs of de-escalation in the war means the market is having to aggressively price in a prolonged supply disruption," Patterson said.
 

Iraq, the first to start cutting supplies last week, has reportedly reduced output by around 1.5 million barrels per day. Meanwhile, over the weekend, Kuwait reportedly cut output by as much as 300,000 barrels per day, Patterson said.

 

Amid surging oil prices, US President Donald Trump said Monday in a social media post that the short-term rise was "a very small price to pay" for the US and the world, and crude prices would fall once the Iran nuclear threat was over.

 

"The bottom line is that, as long as we don't see oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices will only move higher," Patterson said.  End

 

US$1 = INR 92.24

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Reshma Ravi

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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