📅 Last updated: November 1, 2026 · Spot prices as of: October 27, 2026 · Source: U.S. EIA (Brent & WTI). Updated monthly.
Brent & WTI crude oil prices today
Brent crude: $123.10 ▲ 6.1% (1mo) · ▲ 87.9% (1yr)
WTI crude: $103.37 ▲ 21.3% (1mo) · ▲ 66.4% (1yr)
What’s shaping oil prices right now
Global crude prices are being supported by Middle East conflict and attacks threatening production and shipping routes, while uncertainty over Russia sanctions is adding volatility. OPEC+ has kept November and December output targets broadly unchanged and retains roughly 2 million barrels per day of cuts through the end of 2026, limiting near-term supply growth. The alliance is unlikely to make major policy changes before negotiating 2027 quotas. Demand expectations are mixed: resilient U.S. consumption and falling inventories provide support, but concerns about slower global economic growth and the energy transition temper the outlook. Prices near $123 Brent and $103 WTI therefore reflect a substantial geopolitical risk premium over underlying demand conditions.
Where the world’s oil comes from
Crude is a single global market, so one barrel’s price moves the whole world — but it is pumped in a handful of places and shipped through a few narrow corridors. The map shows crude output by country, with the seaborne chokepoints (in red) whose disruption sends prices spiking far more than a localised conflict does.
Top 15 crude oil producers
| # | Country | Crude output (mb/d) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 13.2 |
| 2 | Russia | 10.1 |
| 3 | Saudi Arabia | 9.0 |
| 4 | Canada | 4.9 |
| 5 | Iraq | 4.3 |
| 6 | China | 4.2 |
| 7 | Iran | 3.4 |
| 8 | Brazil | 3.4 |
| 9 | UAE | 3.3 |
| 10 | Kuwait | 2.7 |
| 11 | Mexico | 1.9 |
| 12 | Norway | 1.8 |
| 13 | Kazakhstan | 1.8 |
| 14 | Qatar | 1.8 |
| 15 | Nigeria | 1.4 |
The chokepoints that move oil prices
About a fifth of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz between the Gulf and the Indian Ocean — the single most important oil artery on Earth. The Strait of Malacca carries crude to East Asia, Bab-el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal/SUMED link the Gulf to Europe. A threat to any of these moves prices far more than a strike that doesn’t touch oil infrastructure or transit — which is why markets price chokepoint risk so quickly.
For what this means at the pump, see our US gas prices by state and European fuel prices trackers.