Oil rises as Trump threatens sanctions on Iran partners

Oil prices increased on Friday following U.S. President Donald Trump's threat of economic sanctions against Iran's trading partners. Brent crude futures closed at $94.39 a barrel, while U.S. WTI crude ended at $87.06 a barrel. Over the week, Brent rose by 6.6%, and WTI by 5.7%. Iran warned that its response to any new U.S. threats would be "devastating" following Washington's pledge to impose the strictest financial penalties in history, aiming to overthrow the Iranian leadership.

The rising oil prices were driven by concerns over limited supply from major oil producers like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE, and Kuwait. Additionally, Ukraine's military struck a Russian oil refinery in Perm, over 1,600 km from the Ukrainian border. Asian spot LNG prices reached a five-month high as hopes for reopening the Strait of Hormuz dwindled due to the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict.

In Asia, analysts anticipate weaker-than-expected Chinese gas production and reduced Indonesian domestic supplies to boost LNG demand. Nuclear outages in Japan also contribute to modest support for LNG. In Europe, the Dutch TTF gas price rose to $22.78 per mmBtu, marking a weekly increase of 10.5%. Europe has seen a decline in flexible U.S. LNG shipments to Asia during the summer months, with Europe accounting for only 51% of U.S. exports in March-July 2026, compared to 67% in the same period of 2025.