WTI crude rose more than 8% on Thursday, after two days of falls. It traded near $103 after touching $92.49 earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
Tensions in the Middle East kept the risk of supply disruption through the Strait of Hormuz in focus. Donald Trump signalled further US military action against Iran in the coming weeks, which reduced expectations of a quick end to the conflict.<\/p>\n
Earlier reports of possible negotiations had briefly eased market tension. New measures were also reported to support shipping, including talks involving Iran and Oman and a UK-led virtual meeting with about 35 countries.<\/p>\n
An OPEC+ meeting on Sunday is being watched for a possible output rise by eight members, according to Reuters. This could allow more supply if the Strait of Hormuz reopens.<\/p>\n
WTI stands for West Texas Intermediate, a major oil benchmark alongside Brent and Dubai. Prices are mainly driven by supply and demand, global growth, wars, sanctions, OPEC decisions, and the US dollar.<\/p>\n
Weekly inventory reports from the API and EIA can move prices. Their results are similar within 1% of each other 75% of the time, and the EIA is seen as more reliable.<\/p>\n
Given the sharp 8% price swing on Thursday, we should anticipate heightened volatility in the coming weeks. This makes options strategies, which can profit from large price movements regardless of direction, particularly attractive. The CBOE Crude Oil Volatility Index (OVX) will be a critical gauge of market fear and the cost of these options.<\/p>\n
For those positioning for a prolonged conflict and further supply shocks, long call options on WTI offer a way to capture upside with defined risk. We saw a similar, albeit smaller, geopolitical premium get priced in during the Red Sea shipping disruptions back in late 2025. A sustained break above the $105 level could trigger further buying.<\/p>\n
However, downside risks are significant and must be managed, perhaps with protective put options. The latest EIA report showed a surprise build in US crude inventories of 3.2 million barrels, suggesting underlying supply is not as tight as headlines suggest. A diplomatic breakthrough or a decisive output increase from OPEC+ this Sunday could quickly erase the recent gains.<\/p>\n
A straddle or strangle strategy, buying both a call and a put, is a direct play on this uncertainty heading into the weekend’s OPEC+ meeting. This position profits from a significant price move in either direction, whether it\u2019s a rally from continued conflict or a sharp drop from a coordinated supply increase. Remember that OPEC+ has a recent track record of extending voluntary cuts, as we saw throughout 2025, making their decision highly impactful.<\/p>\n
Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WTI crude jumped 8% to near $103 as Middle East tensions and Hormuz disruption fears intensified.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46271\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}