Citi lifted its third-quarter Brent crude forecast to $80 a barrel from $75, saying nearly five months of U.S.-Iran negotiations without a breakthrough have kept a geopolitical risk premium embedded in oil even though it still expects a deal eventually. By late Friday afternoon in New York, Brent futures were up $1.18, or about 1.4%, at $81.79 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate gained $1.03, or 1.33%, to $78.32, while Goldman Sachs said Brent was likely to stay in an $80-to-$90 range until either a confirmed nuclear agreement with Iran or a marked intensification of hostilities emerges. Citi left its fourth-quarter 2026 and full-year 2027 Brent forecasts unchanged at $70 and $65 a barrel, respectively, as the International Energy Agency warned that disruption around the Strait of Hormuz has put global oil demand on track for its first annual drop since the COVID-19 pandemic.