Brent settles at $116.72, highest close since April 29

Key Points

1. Brent futures jumped 3.14% Friday to settle at $116.72 a barrel.
2. It is the strongest settlement since April 29 and a 6% weekly gain.
3. Higher crude lifts Gulf and Iraqi Q4 revenue while raising fuel and shipping costs.

The latest:

Brent crude futures closed Friday, October 23, 2026, up $3.55, or 3.14%, at $116.72 a barrel, the highest settlement since April 29, according to Emirates News Agency (WAM). US West Texas Intermediate rose $3.80, or 3.8%, to $103.27. Over the week, Brent added 6% while WTI gained 2.3%.

Details:

• The settlement: WAM reported that Brent ended Friday’s session at $116.72 a barrel after a gain of $3.55, a single-day move of 3.14%. That close is the benchmark’s strongest since April 29, placing the global marker back at levels last seen in the second quarter of the year.
• The US benchmark: West Texas Intermediate settled at $103.27 a barrel, up $3.80 on the day, a 3.8% advance that outpaced Brent in percentage terms. The gap between the two benchmarks left WTI roughly $13.45 below the global marker at Friday’s close.
• Weekly performance: On a weekly basis Brent climbed 6%, according to WAM, while WTI rose 2.3%. The divergence means the global benchmark gained more than twice as much as the US contract across the five sessions, widening the spread between the two grades over the week.
• The intraday high: Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported that Brent moved above $117 a barrel during Friday’s trading, the first time it had crossed that level since March 19. The agency said the contract had touched $115 earlier in the same session before extending its advance.
• The reference points: Two separate dates frame the move: April 29 for the settlement record and March 19 for the intraday threshold above $117. Both mark the furthest back traders have to look to find comparable pricing for the global benchmark this year.
• Gulf and Iraqi revenue: Crude at these levels raises the value of each barrel exported by Gulf producers and Iraq in the fourth quarter, since budget receipts in oil-dependent economies move directly with the benchmark price used to settle term sales.
• The cost side: The same increase raises input costs for industry, aviation and shipping, where fuel is a large share of operating expenses. A $3.55 daily move in Brent feeds through to refined product prices and bunker fuel bills for carriers and airlines.
• Not disclosed: Neither agency identified the drivers behind Friday’s jump, named the supply or demand factors involved, or set out a price forecast for the sessions ahead. No producer or institutional comment accompanied the settlement figures.

Background:

The move follows a draft published October 22 that carried Brent at $112.3 a barrel. Friday’s $116.72 settlement replaces that figure, representing a gain of more than $4 against the level recorded one day earlier in the same reporting cycle.

Between the lines:

The split between Brent’s 6% weekly gain and WTI’s 2.3% points to pressure concentrated on the seaborne global barrel rather than the US landlocked grade, and the widening spread is what makes the move matter more for Gulf and Iraqi export receipts than for American producers. The $13.45 gap at Friday’s close is the measurable expression of that divergence.

What’s next

Watch Monday’s opening settlement for confirmation that Brent holds above $116, whether the intraday break above $117 is repeated, and whether the Brent-WTI spread keeps widening beyond Friday’s $13.45.