August WTI Crude Oil Closes Week Up 4.94 Percent Despite OPEC+ Output Rise and U.S. Inventory Build

August WTI crude oil closed the week ending July 10, 2026 at $71.84 per barrel, up $3.38 or 4.94 percent from the prior week. The contract traded in a range from a low of $67.82 to a high of $76.08 before profit-taking pulled prices back late Thursday.

Traders added a risk premium after renewed geopolitical tensions involving Iran raised concerns about commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Roughly one-fifth of the world's seaborne crude oil passes through the waterway. Those concerns outweighed an OPEC+ decision to raise August 2026 production targets and an unexpected build in U.S. crude inventories.

Prices climbed more than $8 from the weekly low before the late-week retreat. The market treated the OPEC+ increase as a longer-term supply factor while viewing the Hormuz developments as an immediate threat to available barrels.