By Ryan Dezember
Oil futures added 3.1% Thursday to end at $95.85 a barrel, the latest in a four-day climb that has lifted benchmark U.S. crude prices $12.
This week's gains have more than erased Friday's sharp decline, which was prompted by Iranian statements that the Strait of Hormuz was reopening to normal traffic. The vital waterway, through which roughly 20% of the world's oil flows, remains essentially closed, however. U.S. oil executives surveyed by the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank say they expect it to remain so for months.
Eighty out of 100 executives polled said they don't expect normal traffic to return to the Strait of Hormuz before August and 96% anticipate the cost of shipping oil through it will be higher due to insurance, freight costs or tolls once the military conflict ends.
Despite expectations for a long disruption and more costly supply from the Persian Gulf, just 10% of the U.S. executives said they think that domestic production will increase by at least 500,000 barrels a day this year. A more popular answer-given by 30% of respondents-was for no increase in U.S. oil output in 2026.
"Extreme oil price volatility is leaving both small and large (exploration and production companies) unsure of whether to increase capital spending and activity," one respondent said. "Closing the supply gap from the Iran conflict will require greater certainty and higher 2027 future prices."
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 23, 2026 15:45 ET (19:45 GMT)
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