Oil Climbs to Five-Month High as Fears of Renewed US Strikes on Iran Grow

Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, rose about 3.5% on Friday, October 23, 2026, and at one point passed $117 a barrel, its highest level since April.

The rise followed widespread reports that the United States was considering renewed military strikes on Iran after the congressional midterm elections, rather than pursuing a diplomatic route. The Guardian reported that oil prices rose above $115 a barrel on the day amid fears that the United States would resume strikes. Over the week ending October 23, Brent gained almost 6%, according to The New York Times.

Prices have swung sharply this year. Oil traded at about $72 a barrel in February, before the Iran war began, and climbed to touch $126 by the end of April. In early September, Reuters reported that Brent had risen around 8% in the previous week, and U.S. crude had gained nearly 10%, after the United States and Iran resumed attacks.

Tehran has signalled that the energy trade would be a target in any renewed fighting. Iran said it would attack oil facilities, undersea cables, datacentres and AI facilities in the Gulf region if a new US-Israeli offensive were launched against it. Iran also warned that U.S. energy assets in the Gulf are vulnerable. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a military force, claimed to have struck four commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway for Gulf shipping, earlier in the week.

Prices had already been moving on other fronts. On Tuesday, October 20, oil touched a five-month high before settling lower, according to Reuters. Earlier, on October 14, Reuters reported that oil rose after the Houthis, rebel forces in Yemen, attacked Saudi Aramco's headquarters.

The attacks have also reached diplomatic staff. The US State Department ordered some diplomats, along with the families of US government employees, to leave Saudi Arabia amid continued Houthi attacks.