Oilfield workers contracted by the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) work on a service rig during a state-funded oil well plugging operation in Midland, Texas, U.S., Thursday, September 25, 2025.
Eli Hartman | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Oil prices fell more than 3% early Friday but remained on track to rise 10% for the week as the war between the US and Iran continues to escalate.
global benchmark brent crude oil futures Prices for July delivery fell 3.6% to $97.10 a barrel and were on track for a weekly gain of about 10%.
us West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Futures was trading 3.4% lower at $89.07 per barrel, but was up 8% for the week.
crude oil futures
Overnight, U.S. Central Command completed its 13th consecutive night of strikes against Iran, targeting military headquarters, drone storage facilities, communications networks, coastal surveillance sites, and maritime capabilities.
Centcom said the attack was aimed at “further reducing Iran’s threat to civilian seafarers and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
“Despite recent attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, international waterways remain navigable. Commercial vessels continue to freely navigate the straits with support from the U.S. military,” the military unit said in a statement.
“More than 50,000 U.S. military personnel are currently active across the Middle East.”
US President Donald Trump told Axios on Thursday that he is considering a “massive attack” on Iran as the Middle East conflict expands to a new battleground in the Red Sea. The president said the proposed attack would be larger than anything seen in previous wars and that Iran “hasn’t suffered enough yet.”
“We’re considering a large-scale attack, bigger than we’ve ever seen before. We’re getting closer to making a decision. We’re ready,” he said in an interview.
This comes after President Trump said he would hold Iran responsible for further attacks by Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthis, after the group claimed to have attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.
“If they do something like this again, the United States will hold Iran accountable,” he said in a post on Truth Social. “Significant military penalties will be imposed on Iran and, of course, on the Houthis themselves, in that the Houthis are agents or proxies of Iran.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Thursday it attacked a U.S. military facility at a U.S. military base in Jordan, state media said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called President Trump’s approach to the Iran war “head for an eye” to reporters Thursday.
Daniela Hathorne, senior market analyst at Capital.com, said in a note Friday morning that increased instability around key transportation routes is re-establishing a “substantial geopolitical risk premium” in oil markets.
“The continued turmoil in the Red Sea has dampened investor sentiment, and attacks on commercial ships have further heightened concerns about global trade and energy security,” he said. “Coupled with tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, this development reinforces the view that geopolitical risks are unlikely to abate anytime soon, energy markets will remain tight and inflation risks will remain elevated.”
Meanwhile, UBS Global Wealth Management strategist Giovanni Staunovo said in a note Thursday that markets may be overestimating the oil market’s recovery from the conflict.
“We continue to expect the production recovery process in the Middle East to be slower than market expectations, as more import vessels will be needed,” he said. “These oil flows remain depressed due to the renewed conflict. This should tighten the oil market and support prices.”
UBS expects Brent crude to fall to $85 a barrel by the end of the year.
