Oil prices surge to their largest weekly gain since 1983 amid geopolitical crisis

World oil prices jumped 35 percent in a week, the biggest weekly rise in futures trading since 1983. Citing CNBC, Saturday, 7 March 2026, the US crude benchmark closed on Friday, 6 March 2026 local time, recording the largest weekly gain in futures history as fighting in the Middle East intensified, triggering major disruptions to global fuel supplies. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures surged 12.21 percent, or $9.89, to $90.90 per barrel at the close. US crude prices rose 35.63 percent over the week, the largest weekly gain in futures since 1983. The Brent global benchmark also rose around 28 percent, marking the biggest weekly rise since April 2020. US President Donald Trump on Friday demanded the unconditional surrender of Iran, fuelling fears of a protracted war that could destabilise global oil and gas markets. Qatar Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told the Financial Times that crude could reach $150 per barrel in the coming weeks if tanker traffic cannot pass through the strait. ‘This could bring down the world economy. All parties that have not declared force majeure we expect to do so in the coming days if conditions persist,’ Kaabi said. ‘All exporters in the Gulf must declare force majeure. If not, at some point they will face legal liability over this, and that is their choice,’ he added. According to two Iraqi officials, Iraq has halted production of around 1.5 million barrels per day. Meanwhile, Kuwait has also started trimming production after exhausting storage capacity, according to sources familiar with the matter to The Wall Street Journal. ‘The market is moving from simply pricing geopolitical risk to facing real operational disruptions,’ said Natasha Kaneva, Global Head of Commodities Research at JPMorgan.