Brent crude was around $89.45 a barrel early Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, and headed for an approximately 5.3% weekly decline, while West Texas Intermediate was near $83.31 and on course for a roughly 4.3% loss, ending two-week winning streaks. Later snapshots put Brent at $89.10 and $88.14, and WTI between $82.89 and $83.59, with differences reflecting timing, contracts and data providers. Oil remained about 23% above prewar levels six months after the Feb. 28 U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. Goldman Sachs estimated Persian Gulf exports had recovered to roughly two-thirds of pre-conflict levels, or about 15–16 million barrels per day versus 22–24 million before the conflict and 5–6 million at the March low. Iran and Oman agreed on a revenue-sharing or transit-lane framework, but Tehran said it did not guarantee an immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Diplomacy, below-normal shipping, low U.S. fuel inventories, strategic-reserve releases, increased American production and weaker Chinese purchases left the outlook finely balanced. The International Energy Agency forecast a possible third-quarter deficit of 1.8 million barrels per day but a 1.6 million-barrel-per-day decline in 2026 demand, while OPEC+ plans to restore 188,000 barrels per day of voluntary cuts in September.