The cost of Middle Eastern oil exceeded $130 per barrel

During trading on Wednesday, September 16, the cost of the benchmark Middle Eastern oil grades Oman and Murban exceeded $130 per barrel for the first time since March 2026. TASS reports this with reference to an analysis of exchange data.

Closer to 11:30 Moscow time, quotes for the first mark reached $135.54 per barrel. The increase to the closing level of the previous trading session by that time was 4.78 percent. Murban's price, in turn, reached $131.53 (plus 6.28 percent).

The cost of futures contracts for the supply of the above grades of oil accelerated their growth in September. Since the beginning of the first month of autumn, Oman quotes have jumped by almost 50 percent, and Murban by 33.6 percent.

Experts attribute the rapid rise in price of the main Middle Eastern oil grades primarily to another escalation in the war-torn region. Attacks by Houthi rebels from the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement have recently added to the problems of local exporters.

At the end of the first half of September, radicals attacked a section of the East-West oil pipeline running through Saudi Arabia. As a result, pumping stations located in close proximity to the pipeline itself were damaged. The impact of the strike, according to Reuters estimates, could be the loss of about 4 percent of global supplies of raw materials.