Crude Oil Holds Strong Above $96

2026-03-13 15:36 By Felipe Alarcon 1 min. read

WTI crude futures advanced past $96 a barrel on Friday as the functional closure of the Strait of Hormuz and intensifying geopolitical rhetoric outweighed Washington’s latest attempts to stabilize global energy costs.

While the US Treasury issued a 30-day license for countries to purchase 100 million barrels of Russian oil currently stranded at sea to stabilize global energy markets, Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei declared the waterway would remain shut.

The blockade has removed roughly 20% of global oil trade and forced Gulf producers to cut output by 10 million barrels per day as storage capacity reaches critical limits.

Although an Indian tanker successfully transited the strait on Friday, analysts suggest the reprieve is temporary as GPS jamming and the threat of missile strikes continue to disrupt 90% of typical traffic.



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