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What you pay at the pump tracks crude oil, and crude jumped Friday. On Oct. 16, 2026, Brent crude touched $110 a barrel for the first time since May before closing at $109.86, a 3.7% gain, CNBC reported. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. benchmark that NBC News says also steers gas prices, rose 3.5% to settle at $101.41 a barrel. NBC said it was the first time WTI had crossed $100 since September.
What pushed oil past $100 this week
CNBC reported that at least nine tankers and cargo ships have been attacked near the Strait of Hormuz since Sunday as Iran tries to choke off oil exports through the waterway. U.S. Central Command said Iran sank the container ship GFS Pride on Wednesday. According to data from the energy researcher Kpler cited by CNBC, Hormuz crude exports stood at 9.4 million barrels per day in the week ended Wednesday, about 70% of the average before the Iran war. Iran-allied Houthi militants in Yemen repeatedly fired at Saudi Arabia this week. A Saudi military spokesman said several missiles were intercepted Friday, including one heading toward the Yanbu export terminal, and three drones were destroyed in the Riyadh and southern regions. The Saudi energy ministry said an Aramco administrative building in Dhahran was hit Tuesday. CNBC also reported that Ukraine vowed to keep striking Russian refineries, and that the energy ceasefire President Donald Trump tried to broker between Ukraine and Russia has unraveled. WTI gained more than 10% this week and Brent nearly 5%, per CNBC.
Follow the money: from the oil market to stocks and the Fed
Tech stocks shed more than $1 trillion in value Friday, NBC News reported. The Nasdaq 100 fell 2.5% and sits about 7% below the record it set the previous week. The S&P 500 dropped 1% and the Russell 2000 fell 1.6%. The Philadelphia semiconductor index dropped 3.8%, its eighth straight losing day and the longest such streak since 2008. NBC said the drop came as worries about ballooning debt, high interest rates and rising oil prices resurfaced. The Federal Reserve raised rates by 0.25 percentage points in September to tame inflation driven by higher oil and gas prices, and NBC said continued energy gains make another hike this year more likely. Diesel futures rose more than 1% Friday. NBC called diesel critical for farming and other industrial sectors, and its cost can feed through to prices of goods on store shelves; the sources give no figure for that link. Fortune put Brent at $108.51 at 7:45 a.m. ET Friday, up 1.72% from the previous morning and 77.21% above its level one year earlier.
Our math: translating Friday’s barrel move into a tank of gas
This is an illustration, not a forecast. WTI rose 3.5% to $101.41, so the prior close was about $97.98 ($101.41 divided by 1.035), a gain of about $3.43 a barrel. A barrel holds 42 gallons, so full pass-through would add about 8 cents a gallon ($3.43 divided by 42). A driver filling a 15-gallon tank weekly would pay roughly $1.23 more per fill-up (15 times 8.2 cents), about $64 a year ($1.23 times 52), or about $5.30 a month ($64 divided by 12), if the move held and passed through completely. Fortune notes that pump prices also include refining, transport, taxes and station markups. Gas typically rises in tandem with oil but often lags on the way down, a pattern called ‘rockets and feathers.’
What to check this week, and what happens next
Watch the Strait of Hormuz attacks, Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, which CNBC ties to this week’s oil gains. Also watch whether the Federal Reserve raises rates again this year, which NBC says rising energy prices make more likely. Sources: NBC News, CNBC, Fortune. Disclaimer: This analysis is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or investment advice.
Sources: NBC News, CNBC, Fortune
