US crude traded at $100 a barrel on Friday, Oct. 23, while Brent hovered above $113, as traders weighed threats to Saudi Arabian supplies and fresh disruptions in Libya.
As of 1:08 pm Tokyo time, US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) hit $100 a barrel, up 53 cents, or 0.53 percent, as per industry tracker OilPrice.com.
Brent stood at $113.60, up 39 cents, or 0.34 percent, while Murban crude rose $4.20, or 3.81 percent, to $114.40.
Oilprice.com crude forward contract rates are delayed by 10 minutes.
The snapshot followed a volatile morning. Investing.com, reported Brent at $113.96 and WTI at $100.17 at 11:02 am in Tokyo on Friday.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil is a high-quality crude oil primarily used as a refining feedstock to produce fuels like gasoline and diesel, and as a core pricing benchmark for the US oil market.
Saudi tensions drive supply concerns
The key concern was escalating fighting involving Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis.
Saudi Aramco ordered the evacuation of its headquarters in Dhahran on Thursday, heightening anxiety over the security of the world’s largest crude exporter. The evacuation itself did not establish that Saudi oil production had been interrupted.
Fighting intensified as the Houthis pushed toward Bab Al-Mandab, the shipping chokepoint at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.
Concerns about further energy-supply disruptions helped lift Brent’s Thursday settlement to its highest level since May 4.
Libya added another source of uncertainty. A pipeline valve connecting the Hamada and Tahara oilfields to Zawiya port was shut, reducing production at both fields, the head of the country’s National Oil Corporation told Reuters.
Higher oil prices squeeze government budgets
The prolonged energy-price shock is also increasing the cost of shielding consumers from expensive fuel.
Japan is considering scaling back gasoline subsidies as early as December because funding could run short, local media reported Friday, citing two ruling-party officials familiar with the discussions. The emergency program began in March following the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Keeping average regular gasoline prices near 170 yen per litre is costing Japan several billion dollars a month and rapidly drawing down a 3.1-trillion-yen supplementary budget approved in June.
A proposal under discussion could allow average pump prices to rise to around 175 yen in December and 180 yen in January. No final decision was reported.
What markets are watching
Traders are watching whether the Saudi-Houthi escalation produces actual damage to energy infrastructure or further shipping disruption, and how quickly Libyan output can recover.
Those developments will help determine whether the latest price surge persists or unwinds.
For consumers, Japan’s subsidy debate illustrates the broader stakes: sustained high crude prices can strain both household budgets and the public finances used to cushion fuel costs — even before governments withdraw support,