The move brought futures prices into line with physical crude and fuel markets, where prices have already been trading above the psychological threshold

International News via Reuters:

Brent crude futures breached $100 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time since July 24, hitting a six-week high as the escalating Middle East conflict stoked concerns over oil supplies.

The move brought futures prices into line with physical crude and fuel markets, where prices have already been trading above the psychological threshold.

Brent crude futures were up $2.88, or 2.94%, at $100.80 a barrel by 1210 GMT, after earlier touching $100.95. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up $2.57, or 2.76%, at $95.60 a barrel, its highest level since early June.

Since the Iran war began on February 28, Brent has surged as high as $126.41 a barrel, a peak reached on April 30.

“The move towards and back above $100 Brent is reflecting a market that increasingly has to change its view on how long the Middle East crisis will continue to curb supply from the region,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

This week, attacks by Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi energy facilities set oil installations ablaze, threatening a significant expansion of the conflict.

The attacks also threaten crude shipments via the Red Sea, which has been a key alternative route to the crucial Strait of Hormuz, where oil flows have been severely curtailed.

In a sharp escalation of the six-month-old war, U.S. forces also hit multiple Iranian oil tankers and Iran targeted a U.S. base in Jordan and attacked ships.

SUPPLY RISKS MOUNT

“Market participants appear to be pricing in a more prolonged conflict in the Middle East as well as the risk that the latest escalation in military strikes disrupts oil flows from the Middle East,” said Hamad Hussain, senior climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics.

“The key risk is whether the recent attacks on oil tankers lead to fewer ship-to-ship transfers taking place in the Gulf of Oman, which have so far played a key role in providing oil to global markets and keeping a lid on prices.”

A tanker carrying about 2 million barrels of Iraqi fuel oil was struck by a drone in Iraqi territorial waters on Wednesday, port officials said, while UKMTO, a British navy-linked agency, reported that several merchant vessels in the Gulf had been hit by disabling fire overnight.

In the week before a resumption in fighting on August 30, roughly 8 million to 9 million barrels per day had flowed through Hormuz, double the previous week’s volume, according to Rystad Energy’s Chief Economist Claudio Galimberti. More recently, flows have fallen below 2 million bpd.

FUELS, PHYSICAL CRUDE OIL ALREADY ABOVE $100

In the physical crude oil market, the dated Brent oil benchmark, against which roughly two-thirds of supply is priced, has been above $100 per barrel since September 3, according to LSEG data.

Physical oil markets react quickly to supply disruptions as buyers need to go into the market to seek alternative cargoes.

Meanwhile, consumers have been paying over $100 for their oil in the form of refined fuels such as gasoline and diesel for most of this year, as conflicts created a global refining crunch which sent fuel prices soaring even relative to crude.

European diesel futures were trading at around $199 per barrel on Wednesday, and have not been below $100 per barrel since the start of the Iran war.

Diesel refining margins, or the fuel’s premium to crude, have been at all-time highs since August as fuel shortages gripped markets, touching $78.90 per barrel on September 1.

By contrast, the margin averaged $21 per barrel in 2025 and $19.52 in 2024.

“We’re in a situation where actually, if we had normal refining margins, crude would be the equivalent of about $150,” said Alan Gelder, senior vice-president for refining, chemicals and oil markets at Wood Mackenzie.

Refining is tight globally because of lower exports from the Strait of Hormuz and Russia, and restrained throughputs in Asia, he added.

European gasoline has also been above $100 since March, and its premium to crude neared all-time highs of above $60 per barrel at the start of the month.

In the U.S., consumers faced record gasoline prices over the Labor Day holiday weekend, while diesel prices hit all-time highs last week as supply concerns continued to tighten fuel markets.

“It complicates the picture because central banks around the world are trying to grapple with high inflation,” said Nitesh Shah, commodity strategist at WisdomTree.

Reporting by Tony Munroe and Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore, Sethuraman N R in New Delhi, Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru, Robert Harvey in London. Editing by Louise Heavens, Jan Harvey and Mark Potter

The Canadian levies follow 50% tariffs the United States imposed on some $20 billion of Canadian goods last month, after several rounds of negotiations collapsed

International News via Reuters:

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods took effect after midnight on Tuesday, intensifying an 18-month-old trade war and spurring Prime Minister Mark Carney to urge a further shift away from the country’s biggest trading partner.

The Canadian levies follow 50% tariffs the United States imposed on some $20 billion of Canadian goods last month, after several rounds of negotiations collapsed. The breakdown has widened a rift between the longtime allies, both of whom have blamed the other for the failed talks.

“We have everything we need to pivot and prosper,” Carney said on Tuesday in a video posted on YouTube after the tariffs came into effect.

“That pivot will come at a cost. There’s always a cost to action. But it doesn’t come close to the cost of standing still,” he said.

A government source said there are currently no talks between the two sides on the level of ministers or government officials.

Ottawa designed the retaliatory measures to put economic and political pressure on Washington, Canadian government officials said, and the tariffs are expected to hit sectors in some competitive states such as Michigan and Ohio, ahead of U.S. midterm elections in November.

The counter-tariffs cover some $20 billion of U.S. goods, with duties ranging from 15% to 50% across products from steel and furniture to clothing and electronics. 

While the new tariffs affect a small amount of exports compared with total trade between the U.S. and Canada, some analysts worry the standoff could destabilize the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the free-trade pact that succeeded NAFTA. Together they have underpinned commerce across North America for decades.

“What we are worried about is an escalatory spiral,” said Michael Harvey, executive director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance and a member of Carney’s advisory committee on bilateral U.S. economic relations.

“But at the same time, we totally understand that the prime minister needs to find areas of leverage,” Harvey said. 

Trump’s social media posts focused on Canada over the holiday weekend as Ottawa’s tariff deadline approached.

Canadian private jet maker Bombardier would no longer be allowed to sell its planes in the United States unless it started manufacturing in the country, Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Monday, without saying whether an official government order would follow. The company’s shares opened down more than 6% on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

On Monday, Trump posted a map of North America draped in the U.S. flag, including Canada and Mexico. He also shared an AI-generated image reviving a running jab at Carney, calling him “Governor,” a reference to his repeated taunt that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.

U.S. TARIFFS HIT CANADIAN WINE, FURNITURE, DAIRY

Trump’s tariffs implemented last month hit sectors including wine, furniture, dairy products, cement, clothing, fishing rods and hockey equipment, covering $20 billion, or 5%, of Canadian exports to the U.S.

According to Canadian and U.S. government data, Canada has shipped almost 68% of total exports to the U.S. this year, out of which roughly 80% moved duty-free due to exemptions under the USMCA pact. Protections under the agreement have provided the domestic economy some resilience.   

The new tariffs, imposed under a Depression-era U.S. law, do not allow Ottawa to exercise USMCA exemptions.

Concerns about the USMCA’s future have fuelled uncertainty about investment and growth, as Canada wages a trade war against an economy 13 times its size. 

Polls also show Carney has broad support from Canadians, but that could disappear within months as the consequences of the trade war sink in, according to political analysts.

A new poll from Angus Reid on Tuesday showed that approval of Carney’s performance jumped 11 points to 62% from an August poll.

Meanwhile, just 20% of Americans approved of Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. 

Trump threatened last month to raise U.S. tariffs on all cars, trucks and automotive parts from Canada to 50% starting January 1, and signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America.

Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Caroline Stauffer, Rod Nickel and Deepa Babington

The complaint is the latest by environmental groups over the European Union’s efforts to simplify and scale back policies, a strategy known as the EU “omnibus,”

International News via Reuters:

Environmental campaign groups lodged a complaint against the European Commission on Tuesday, accusing the EU executive of moving ahead with an overhaul of water protection and management laws without enough evidence.

The complaint is the latest by environmental groups over the European Union’s efforts to simplify and scale back policies, a strategy known as the EU “omnibus,” which responds to complaints from industries who say burdensome laws hurt their competitiveness with global rivals like the U.S. and China.

The complaint concerns a Commission plan to revise the EU’s main water legislation this year, in part in response to concerns by mining and metals companies that say the law’s environmental safeguards are delaying permits for new critical raw materials mines and other industrial projects.

In a complaint filed with the European Ombudsman — the EU’s independent watchdog — the World Wildlife Fund, the European Environmental Bureau and three other groups said the Commission had failed to sufficiently gather evidence and consult stakeholders before announcing the planned revision, and that this failure amounted to maladministration.

“Their cumulative effect amounts to a flagrant deviation from established due process, one that materially affects citizens’ rights,” the NGOs said. They argued that the EU water laws are not the reason new mines struggle to get permits, and do not need revising.

A Commission spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Ombudsman will now decide whether to open an inquiry into the complaint. That process can take a few weeks, a spokesperson for the watchdog told Reuters.

The EU watchdog does not have enforcement powers, but rather makes recommendations that can affect future EU lawmaking, and increases scrutiny of the Commission. 

Last year, the Ombudsman obliged the Commission to publicly explain why it had fast-tracked other proposals to curb sustainability laws, and not assessed whether the changes complied with Europe’s climate change commitments.

Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Paul Simao