Oil Majors Pour $20 Billion Into Pipelines, Producing Assets as Hormuz Risk Spikes
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New York – September 16, 2026 -- Brent crude settled at $101.21 a barrel on September 9, its highest close since May 22, after a 3.4% gain as fighting between the United States and Iran escalated in the Persian Gulf, while West Texas Intermediate settled at $96.05. Roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne crude normally transits the Strait of Hormuz, and the market is now pricing the risk that it will not. Against that backdrop, four transactions worth roughly $20 billion combined have moved capital into existing pipelines, storage and producing wells rather than new drilling.