Key Facts
Prices for international oil benchmark Brent crude were flat at $77 per barrel by 10 a.m. EDT during a choppy Monday session, the first day of trading for the commodity since the U.S. struck Iran.
That brings the two-week increase for Brent prices to 15%, but much further pressure on oil prices could be in store, a Goldman group led by Daan Struyven, the investment bank’s co-head of global commodities research warned in a note to clients.
Brent prices could spike to more than $110 per barrel should Iran move to close the critical Strait of Hormuz, predicted Goldman, modeling out a scenario in which oil flows through the shipping route decline 50% for at least one month.
That would mark a 30% increase from Monday’s already elevated price for the benchmark, sending Brent to its highest level since July 2022, as the U.S. and its allies sanctioned oil from
top three producer Russia after it invaded Ukraine.