WTI back above $100, first time since 21 Sep: Hormuz attacks, Brent ~$109 — sizing into the weekend

[LondonNewsTrader]

Crude did the heavy lifting this afternoon. Front-month WTI pushed through $100 (around $100.7–100.8, roughly +2.8–2.9% on the day) for the first time since 21 September, with Brent up about 3.2–3.3% to ~$109.3.

What's driving it:
- At least nine commercial ships attacked in or near Hormuz this week, per CNBC; CENTCOM says an Iranian missile sank the container ship GFS Pride on Wednesday
- Iran says it is stepping up strikes in response to the US blockade of its ports and last month's tighter sanctions
- The Russia–Ukraine "energy ceasefire" has come apart, and Kyiv says it will resume hits on Russian refineries (diesel is the pressure point)
- US commercial stocks drew more than 8M bbl in the week to 9 Oct on Gulf Coast shut-ins from Hurricane Isaias
- The offset: the IEA is speeding up release of 100M bbl of emergency stocks. That kept WTI soft (~$95.75) in the morning before the afternoon squeeze

On the week that's WTI +8.6% and Brent +4.1% (Reuters), while the Nasdaq is heading for a 4%+ weekly loss. Oil up plus tech down is the stagflation mix the Fed hike crowd has been leaning on.

For scalpers the real question is the weekend. Hormuz headlines have repeatedly landed on Saturday and Sunday, and Monday's open in XLE/XOM/OXY, airlines (UAL reports Tue AMC) and index futures can gap well beyond any intraday stop. My rule: I don't carry an energy scalp over the weekend at full size. Either flat by the close or a quarter size with the gap risk already accepted in pounds, not ticks.

Sources: [CNBC on WTI topping $100](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/16/oil-pri ... ussia.html) | [Reuters via Euronext, weekly gains](https://live.euronext.com/en/financial- ... ast-supply) | [WSJ on the IEA release](https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil ... s-f8d24d7b)

Are you flat energy into the weekend, or holding a small XLE/USO position as a hedge against the tech book? And does $100 WTI change how you size Monday's open?