Brent Crude Sits at $115.41, Up 75% in a Year

Brent crude traded at $115.41 per barrel at 8:15 a.m. Eastern Time on October 26, 2026 — 23 cents below yesterday's level and roughly $49.50 higher than a year ago.

The benchmark has climbed 13.30% in the past month alone, from $101.86 per barrel. A year ago, on the same basis, oil cost $65.93. That is a 75.04% increase over twelve months. Yesterday's close stood at $115.64, down 0.19%.

How does the oil price feed into pump prices?

A gallon of gasoline costs more than the crude inside it. Refineries, wholesalers, taxes and local station markups all take a share. Crude still dominates the bill. It typically accounts for more than half the price per gallon.

That link runs fast in one direction and slow in the other. When oil prices spike, gas prices follow quickly. When oil drops, gas prices drift down slowly — a pattern traders call "rockets and feathers."

What backs the U.S. up in a supply shock?

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve holds crude for emergencies. Its core purpose is energy security during disasters such as sanctions, severe storm damage or war. It can also soften price spikes when supply breaks.

It is not a long-term fix. The reserve buys immediate relief for consumers and keeps critical parts of the economy running — key industries, emergency services and public transportation.

Why do oil and natural gas move together?

Both are major energy fuels. When oil gets expensive, some industries switch parts of their operations to natural gas. That substitution raises demand for natural gas, pushing its price in the same direction as oil's.

Which benchmark matters most?

Two benchmarks dominate oil pricing: Brent crude, the main global reference, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the main North American reference. Brent prices much of the world's traded crude, so it better represents global performance. The U.S. Energy Information Administration now uses Brent as its primary reference in its Annual Energy Outlook.

Brent's history shows why the market watches it closely:

• The early 1970s brought the first oil shock, when Middle East producers cut exports and embargoed the U.S. and others during the Yom Kippur War.
• Prices fell in the mid-1980s on lower demand and new non-OPEC producers entering the industry.
• Prices spiked in 2008 on rising global demand, then collapsed with the financial crisis.
• During the 2020 COVID lockdown, demand collapsed and prices dropped below $20 per barrel.

Wars, recessions, OPEC decisions and shifting energy policy have driven every major swing.

How is the price actually set?

Supply and demand set the price, including news about future supply and demand — geopolitics and OPEC+ decisions move markets before barrels move. U.S. policy matters too. In 2025, the Trump administration moved to reopen more than 1.5 million acres in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas leasing, reversing the Biden administration's limits on Arctic drilling.

The price updates constantly while futures markets are open. A futures market is effectively an auction where traders agree to buy or sell oil in the future; as long as contracts trade, the price moves.

U.S. shale adds another lever. Shale is rock containing oil and natural gas — energy not yet tapped. More shale production means more supply, which restrains price spikes.

Why does $115 oil matter beyond the pump?

Expensive oil raises the cost of everyday goods. It pushes up heating and utility bills directly. It also raises logistics costs. Shipping becomes more expensive, and those costs reach the grocery shelf as farms and warehouses pay more to move products.

The context is geopolitical. Fortune's recent energy coverage reports that Singapore has urged suppliers to "honor commitments" as Indonesia slashes gas exports, and that energy markets are adapting to the Iran war as a "forever conflict." Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, wants to move 10 million barrels of oil a day around the Strait of Hormuz via its East-West pipeline.

Nobody can predict where oil goes next, as the source notes plainly: the trajectory can turn rapidly when threats of economic downturn or war run high. With Brent up $49.50 in a year and conflict risk still priced in, the question for businesses is not whether oil moves — it is how fast their costs follow.