Oil nears US$100 as Iran reports 7 tankers hit in Hormuz

The price of North American benchmark crude rose US$2.32 to US$99.47 a barrel on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, after Iran’s state television reported that seven oil tankers were struck by attacks or hit naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, The Canadian Press reported.

The December contract for West Texas Intermediate closed just short of US$100. Brent crude, the international benchmark, jumped four per cent to US$113.17 a barrel after touching its highest level in five months, The Associated Press reported. Brent had topped US$111 on Tuesday for the first time since May.

Quoting a statement from the Revolutionary Guard’s navy, the Iranian report said four tankers were targeted and caught fire while transferring oil, and three more were damaged and immobilized after hitting naval mines. It gave no details on casualties or the ships’ flags, and the report had not been independently verified. If confirmed, it would be the largest number of vessels damaged in the waterway in a single day since the war with Iran began on Feb. 28, when the United States and Israel launched joint strikes.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a shipping data firm, said tanker operators willing to risk the voyage have been moving Gulf oil through the strait at night, using a lane protected by the U.S. military near Oman’s coast with their location systems and phones switched off.

Saudi Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser said the amount of oil moving through the company’s East-West pipeline, which bypasses the strait, has risen from two million to seven million barrels a day, according to an interview with Al Arabiya Business reported by The Associated Press.

For Alberta, higher world prices bring mixed results. Western Canadian Select, the province’s heavy oil benchmark, settled at a discount of US$27 a barrel to WTI on Oct. 16, the widest since 2023, which means oilsands producers capture less of the rally than the headline price suggests.

Energy stocks did not follow crude higher on Thursday. The TSX energy sector lost 1.72 per cent, with Cenovus Energy and Suncor Energy both lower, as the S&P/TSX composite index fell 351.54 points.

Oil prices also feed directly into what Albertans pay at the pump. Under the province’s fuel tax relief program, the 13-cent-a-litre provincial fuel tax is set to zero when WTI averages US$90 or more over the review window, and the tax was suspended on Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. The next quarterly review sets the rate for Jan. 1.

Higher prices also support provincial royalty revenue, which helped Alberta post a $2.2-billion surplus for 2025-26.

Via The Canadian Press and The Canadian Press markets report.

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