West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled at $88.20 per barrel on June 9, dropping $3.10 in a single session. That’s a 3.4% decline.
Brent crude followed suit, falling roughly 3% to approximately $91.45. The culprit: growing signs that the Iran-Israel conflict, which has kept oil markets on a knife’s edge for months, might actually be winding down.
The geopolitical backdrop
This one traces back to February 28, 2026, when US-Israeli airstrikes against Iran kicked off a conflict that quickly escalated. Iranian forces retaliated, and operations in the Strait of Hormuz were disrupted. Roughly 20% of the world’s oil passes through that narrow waterway. WTI spiked above $100 per barrel during the worst of the disruptions earlier this year.
A ceasefire was hammered out in early April 2026, and oil prices responded with a sharp retreat, dropping roughly 15% in the weeks that followed. But the truce has been shaky at best, with periodic flare-ups keeping traders on edge and prices volatile throughout the spring.
