1. Today's reading, with a timestamp
$99.97 a barrel of Brent at 17:30 UTC is the aggregated quote from our own data interface, which merges several sources and carries the timestamp; it is a snapshot, not a settlement. For context, three other readings from the same day: EnergyNow reported Brent at $98.33 during the session, 2.00 per cent below Monday's settlement of $100.34; OilPrice.com listed $100.50 in the afternoon; HeizOel24.at quoted $99.80 for North Sea crude at 19:40 CEST. A two-dollar range within a day is normal for a market reacting to headlines out of New York.
| Date | Brent | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Sep 2026, 17:30 UTC | $99.97 | our API |
| 22 Sep 2026, 19:40 CEST | $99.80 | HeizOel24.at |
| 21 Sep 2026, settlement | $100.34 | EnergyNow |
| 21 Sep 2026, 9:35 ET | $101.61 | Fortune |
| 18 Sep 2026 | $104.33 | Fortune |
| a month ago | $95.16 | Fortune |
| a year ago | $66.93 | Fortune |
| 31 Mar 2026 (year high) | $118.35 | Wikipedia |
| 1 Jul 2026 (year low) | $71.57 | Wikipedia |
What separates Brent from WTI, and why the gap is currently four dollars, is explained in our glossary under Brent.
2. Why the oil price is falling today
The trigger is political: a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts the blockade of Iranian ports; the offer went to Washington through mediators, which is reviewing it while the UN General Assembly meets in New York (Israel Hayom citing Reuters, 22 September 2026). The second reason is physical: Saudi Arabia has restarted the East-West pipeline knocked out by drones on 13 September at a low rate and loaded about 14 million barrels onto seven supertankers on Sunday; the old 4 million barrels a day will take six to eight weeks (EnergyNow, OilPrice.com).
Both remove risk the market had priced the week before, when Brent stood above $107 on 16 September. HeizOel24.at describes the week to 18 September as sharp gains at the start on worries about Saudi exports, then a return to the starting level as reports of a faster restoration and hopes of de-escalation arrived. Whether the decline holds depends on tankers sailing reliably through the strait again; the three scenarios are on Hormuz reopening: what happens to fuel prices.
3. What stands against a further decline
Three numbers from the same day show the market is not relaxed. Murban, the Abu Dhabi grade, rose 3.80 per cent to $114.20, $14 above Brent (OilPrice.com): anyone wanting Gulf oil pays a premium the Brent quote does not show. VLCC rates of $1.2 million a day make freight at least a quarter of the crude price to Asia, against five to six per cent in 2025 (OilPrice.com). And gasoil gained 0.99 per cent to $1,452.50 a tonne while crude fell (HeizOel24.at): diesel stays scarce, see Diesel shortage winter 2026/27.
Then there is the summer's lesson: the agreement of 17/18 June pushed Brent to $71.57 on 1 July; after the ceasefire collapsed on 8 July it was back at $96.78 on 24 July (Wikipedia). The EIA's base path assumes $90.66 in the fourth quarter of 2026 and $73.74 on average in 2027, on the assumption of normalisation in the second quarter of 2027 (STEO, 9 September); more on Oil price forecast 2027.
4. What today's oil price means for heating oil, diesel and petrol
Heating oil follows Brent with a lag of days and via gasoil: in Germany it cost €167.51 per 100 litres on 22 September (HeizOel24, −1.4 per cent on the day), in Austria €188.85 (HeizOel24.at, −0.94 per cent), in France €1,855 per 1,000 litres (prixfioul.fr, 14:37). By our methodology's rule of thumb, ten dollars a barrel is about 5.5 euro cents a litre before tax at $1.14 per euro; the four-dollar drop since 18 September is therefore worth a good two cents if refiners and dealers pass it on, which on diesel they currently do not. US households find the winter outlook on Heating oil price predictions.
At the pump the oil price is only one part: in the United States diesel stood at an all-time high of $6.53 a gallon on 22 September and petrol at $4.48 (AAA); in Germany diesel was €2.471 on 17 September (ADAC). From 1 October Germany's fuel tax cut of about 17 cents will matter more than any daily move in Brent.
See in a minute what Brent at 100, 90 or 120 dollars means for your household.
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