Brent crude briefly passed $108 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since May, closing at $107.63 after rising 6.3% in a single session, Hiru News and CNN reported.
US West Texas Intermediate closed at $102.48, up 6.7% on the day and also its highest since mid-May. Both benchmarks have risen more than 75% since the start of the year.
What moved the market
The immediate driver was President Donald Trump’s remark in Dallas on Wednesday that he was not looking for a deal with Iran. Trump also said he did not expect oil prices to fall until “right after” the November midterm elections, having said for months that the war would end quickly.
“Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward. They’re going to be tumbling down, and we’ll get them down.”
Analysts at ING said the move “reflects a market still pricing in persistent geopolitical risk, with Persian Gulf tensions showing no credible path to de-escalation.”
Commodities experts quoted this week warned Brent could reach $120 or as high as $150 a barrel if the stalemate with Iran continues.
The bond market moved with it
The sell-off in bonds intensified on Thursday, with the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield rising more than 10 basis points to 4.97% — its highest since October 2023.
Traders are now pricing a 70% chance the Federal Reserve raises interest rates at next week’s policy meeting, up from 61% on Wednesday and 49% a week earlier, according to CME FedWatch. New data on Thursday showed US wholesale inflation picked up in August.
In the United States, the national average petrol price rose 5 cents overnight to $4.27 a gallon and diesel rose 4 cents to $5.98.
Context for Sri Lanka
The move extends a run that took Brent above $100 on 9 September after Houthi strikes on Saudi oil facilities, and to $105.51 a day later — a level that drove the Colombo Stock Exchange to a third consecutive fall. Houthi forces have meanwhile advanced along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, declaring a naval blockade aimed at Saudi-linked shipping.
Neither source addresses what $108 crude does to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s import bill or to domestic fuel pricing, and no Sri Lankan outlet has yet published a revised inflation projection. Hiru News carried the report as international wire copy without local analysis.
Not reported
Neither outlet gives a date for the next domestic fuel price revision, quotes the CPC or the Central Bank, or states how far the rupee’s import cover is affected. Neither names the commodities analysts behind the $120–$150 range.
