Brent Crude Notches Second Straight Weekly Gain to ~$94/bbl as Hormuz Traffic Stays Near a Trickle

Brent crude traded near $93.50-94/bbl and WTI near $86/bbl, both benchmarks booking a second consecutive weekly gain of roughly 6% even as Strait of Hormuz shipping traffic remained near 20% of its pre-war seven-day average per UKMTO. Traders cited the collapsed 60-day US-Iran MOU, Washington's threatened 'toughest sanctions in history' on Iran, and continued Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries as compounding supply-risk drivers, even as the US Energy Department maintained that Hormuz exports were nearer 9 million barrels/day than independent trackers estimate.