Oil Splits: IEA Cuts Demand, EIA Lifts Brent as Refiners Post Record Margins
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NEW YORK – September 17, 2026 -- Crude settled near $100 a barrel Friday after Iranian state media said Tehran would meet Gulf states in Oman to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, capping a second consecutive weekly gain despite the pullback. The International Energy Agency now forecasts global oil demand will fall by 2.5 million barrels a day in 2026, roughly 940,000 barrels a day deeper than its estimate a month earlier, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its second-half 2026 Brent forecast by $8 to around $90 a barrel in its September 9 Short-Term Energy Outlook. OPEC cut its 2026 demand growth forecast for a fifth consecutive time.