economy
Current price of oil as of Aug. 21, 2026
At 8 a.m. Eastern Time today, oil was priced at $95.29 per barrel with Brent serving as the benchmark (we’ll explain different benchmarks later in this article). That’s a loss of 11 cents compared with yesterday morning and more than $27 higher than the price one year ago.
TL;DR
- Oil was priced at $95.29 per barrel as of 8 a.m. ET today, a slight decrease from yesterday but significantly higher than a year ago.
- Oil prices are primarily determined by supply and demand, influenced by factors such as economic recession worries, wars, and geopolitical events.
- Gas pump prices are affected by crude oil costs, refining, transportation, taxes, and retailer markups.
- The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a store of crude oil for energy security and temporary relief during supply shocks.
- Oil and natural gas prices are linked; changes in one can affect the demand for the other.
- Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are the main benchmarks for oil pricing, with Brent often representing global performance.
- Historical oil prices have been volatile, experiencing spikes and crashes due to various global events.
- U.S. shale oil production can help stabilize prices by increasing supply.
- High oil prices tend to increase the cost of everyday items due to energy and logistics expenses.