EnergyNow Morning Oil Price Report

Report Date & Time: September 16, 2026 – 5:31 a.m. MDT – Using Trading View Prices

See Up-To-Date Prices Here

Summary

• WTI crude is approximately US$104.63 per barrel, down US$1.20, or 1.13%, from Tuesday’s official US$105.83 settlement. Oil is lower this morning after Saudi Arabia began offering additional crude through Oman, easing some fears that Saudi exports could fall more sharply.
• Brent crude is approximately US$108.16 per barrel, down US$0.59, or 0.54%, from Tuesday’s US$108.75 settlement. Despite today’s retreat, crude remains exceptionally elevated after Tuesday’s rally pushed both benchmarks to their highest closes since May 19.
• The market remains caught between alternative Saudi export arrangements and persistent physical supply risks. Hormuz visible vessel transits fell to four Tuesday, U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly jumped 7.1 million barrels, while diesel markets remain extremely tight.

Latest Oil Prices

As of approximately 5:31 a.m. MDT Wednesday, WTI was trading around US$104.63 per barrel, compared with Tuesday’s official settlement of US$105.83. That puts WTI US$1.20 lower, or 1.13%, making today’s move clearly down rather than relatively flat.

Brent was approximately US$108.16, versus Tuesday’s US$108.75 settlement, a decline of US$0.59, or 0.54%.

Tuesday had been another powerful session: WTI jumped US$4.44, or 4.38%, while Brent gained US$3.07, or 2.9%, as suspended Saudi loadings from Yanbu and cancelled European cargoes intensified supply concerns.

WTI remains on the October 2026 front-month contract, while Brent is on its current front-month delivery. There is no significant rollover distortion affecting today’s day-over-day comparisons.

Why Oil Is Moving

The biggest development this morning is Saudi Arabia’s effort to work around damage to its East-West Pipeline and the suspension of loadings at Yanbu.

Saudi Arabia is offering Asian refiners additional crude through ship-to-ship transfers near Sohar, Oman, providing another avenue for exports after drone attacks damaged the pipeline connecting eastern Saudi production with the Red Sea. UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said the development was easing fears that the disruption could become even larger.

That has taken some of Tuesday’s geopolitical premium out of crude.

However, the underlying transportation problem has not disappeared. Visible vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz fell to only four Tuesday from seven Monday, versus a recent 10-day average of 18. Before the Iran conflict, the Strait carried roughly one-fifth of global oil and LNG supplies.

Key Market Risks or Catalysts

U.S. inventories are providing another bearish influence. American Petroleum Institute figures showed U.S. crude stocks unexpectedly increased by 7.1 million barrels during the week ended September 11, compared with analyst expectations for a roughly 1.6-million-barrel decline. Gasoline and distillate inventories also increased.

But refined-product markets remain extremely tight. European gasoil futures reached record territory Tuesday, while the U.S. national average diesel price recently exceeded $6 per gallon for the first time. Asian diesel refining margins have also climbed above $87 per barrel, an all-time high.

Middle East escalation remains the biggest upside risk. Houthi advances along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait are creating another potential threat to energy shipping, while Saudi forces have intensified strikes against Houthi positions.

Diplomacy offers the main potential bearish catalyst. China has called on Iran and the United States to resume negotiations and reopen Hormuz, while Citi expects tensions to support prices in the near term but sees potential normalization later in the fourth quarter.

Bottom Line

Oil is lower Wednesday morning, but this remains a historically tight and volatile market.

Saudi Arabia’s ability to redirect some crude through Oman reduces the immediate danger of a severe Saudi export collapse. The unexpected U.S. inventory build is also putting downward pressure on prices.

But with WTI still around $105, Brent above $108, Hormuz vessel traffic deeply depressed and diesel markets exceptionally tight, the fundamental supply-risk premium remains substantial.

The key question is now whether Saudi Arabia can maintain enough alternative exports to prevent physical shortages while its damaged pipeline system is repaired.

Western Canadian Select (WCS)

A reliable Tuesday WCS physical-market settlement was not available from the public sources reviewed by publication time, so this report will not manufacture a same-day WCS number.

The latest verified WCS settlement remains Monday’s October-delivery Hardisty differential of US$17.35 per barrel below WTI, according to brokerage CalRock. Monday WTI settled at US$101.39, implying a WCS price of approximately US$84.04 per barrel.

The previous Friday differential was US$16.75 below WTI, meaning the latest verified WCS discount widened by US$0.60 per barrel. The widening was linked partly to the shutdown of Exxon Mobil’s 264,000-barrel-per-day Joliet, Illinois refinery, an important processor of Canadian heavy crude.

Because Wednesday WTI is now around US$104.63, combining that live price with Monday’s WCS assessment would create a misleading apparent spread. The appropriate latest verified comparison therefore remains Monday WCS of approximately US$84.04 versus Monday WTI of US$101.39, for a US$17.35 discount.

Who Watches the WCS Price

Oil sands producers realize WCS-linked prices on unhedged production, and their capital plans key off the differential outlook. US Midwest and Gulf Coast refiners with coking capacity buy WCS as feedstock and treat the differential as their margin opportunity. The Alberta government forecasts royalty and tax revenue directly off WCS — a one-dollar move in the differential is worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the provincial budget over a fiscal year. And diluent demand links WCS volumes back to condensate markets.

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