Oil Prices Today, September 4, 2026: Brent Near $95 After Topping $96 as Iran-Hormuz Risk Grows

Oil prices remained unusually high Friday, September 4, after Brent crude briefly moved above $96 a barrel in Asian trading as renewed U.S.-Iran fighting put the Strait of Hormuz back at the center of the global energy market.

Prices later pulled back, but the bigger story has not changed: traders are still paying a large risk premium for the possibility that Middle East oil supplies could face another serious disruption. That matters well beyond crude oil.

Higher energy prices can quickly reach gasoline, diesel, shipping costs, inflation expectations, Treasury yields and the Federal Reserve. The latest oil market levels showed:

• Brent crude: $95.05 a barrel at 0813 GMT, down 0.49% on the day
• WTI crude: $90.66 a barrel, down 0.70%
• Brent weekly gain: about 6.5%
• WTI weekly gain: about 8.8%
• Thursday Brent close: $95.52
• Thursday WTI close: $91.30
• Brent Thursday intraday high: $97.29
• WTI Thursday intraday high: $93.04

Those moves leave both benchmarks far above where they started the week. Brent briefly crossed $96 during Friday’s Asian session before easing, while Thursday’s rally had already taken both contracts to six-week highs. The main force behind the move is Iran.

Renewed attacks between the United States and Iran this week marked the sharpest escalation between the two sides since July. Markets are worried that prolonged fighting could further restrict supplies moving out of the Persian Gulf or threaten energy infrastructure across the region. Reuters reported that the conflict is now in its seventh month after beginning with U.S.-Israeli strikes in late February.

But the Strait of Hormuz is the part of the story oil traders are watching most closely.

Preliminary Kpler data showed only four commodity vessels crossed the strait on Thursday, down from nine the previous day and far below the recent 10-day average of around 15. The number does not include vessels that may have crossed while their tracking systems were switched off.

Before the conflict began, roughly 125 large commercial vessels crossed the waterway each day. Oil and liquefied natural gas moving through Hormuz accounted for about one-fifth of global daily supply, according to Reuters data and the broader importance of the route documented by the U.S. EIA.

That explains why even small changes in shipping conditions can cause large moves in crude prices. The physical supply loss does not need to happen immediately. Oil prices can rise simply because traders see a greater chance that barrels could become harder, slower or more expensive to move.

Read Next: Oil Prices Thursday

There are some forces preventing oil from moving even higher. Iraq increased its August oil exports to about 2.34 million barrels per day from roughly 1.35 million in July, providing some extra supply to buyers.

At the same time, traders continue to watch diplomatic signals involving Russia and Ukraine because any reduction in risks to Russian energy supplies could remove some geopolitical pressure from crude. Still, the U.S. fuel market is already feeling the effect of expensive crude.

AAA’s national average for regular gasoline reached $4.1474 a gallon on September 4. That puts U.S. pump prices roughly $1 above where they were one year ago. AAA said high crude prices and continued volatility around Hormuz have pushed Labor Day gasoline prices to record levels for this time of year.

Today’s key U.S. fuel figures include:

• Regular gasoline national average: $4.1474 per gallon
• One week earlier: about $4.10
• One month earlier: about $4.09
• One year earlier: about $3.19
• U.S. gasoline demand last week: 8.92 million barrels per day
• Previous week’s demand: 9.04 million barrels per day
• U.S. crude inventories: 424.5 million barrels
• Weekly crude inventory change: down 4.5 million barrels

The latest AAA data show why oil prices are no longer just an energy-market story. Higher gasoline directly affects household budgets, while record-high diesel costs can spread through trucking, agriculture, construction and food distribution.

That brings the Federal Reserve into the picture.

Energy prices are volatile, so Fed officials normally focus more heavily on underlying inflation trends. But a long period of expensive crude, gasoline and diesel can still matter because it can raise transportation costs and influence inflation expectations.

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said at Jackson Hole last week that the central bank needs confidence inflation is moving clearly toward its 2% objective. The Fed’s preferred PCE inflation measure was running at 3.7% in July, according to Reuters’ account of his remarks.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller offered a somewhat softer signal Thursday, saying recent data showed signs of disinflation and that he could support holding rates steady if incoming reports confirm that trend. Markets are therefore balancing two competing forces: softer economic data could reduce the need for another hike, while another surge in oil could keep inflation pressure alive.

That makes Friday’s U.S. employment report another major part of the oil story. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release August payrolls at 8:30 a.m. ET on September 4. Economists surveyed by Reuters expect about 56,000 new jobs and an unemployment rate near 4.1%.

Read Next: Jobs Report Today

For consumers and investors, the next move in crude now comes down largely to the Middle East.

If Hormuz traffic improves and the U.S.-Iran conflict cools, some of the geopolitical premium in Brent and WTI could fade. If fighting intensifies or shipping drops further, markets could quickly begin testing the recent highs again.

For now, Brent near $95, WTI above $90 and U.S. gasoline above $4 a gallon mean oil remains one of the most important forces connecting Iran, inflation, interest rates and financial markets on September 4.