Oil Holds $116.55 as Crude Oil Price Tracks Brent — Crude Oil Price

Crude oil price reached $116.55 per barrel at 8:45 a.m. Eastern Time on May 5, 2026, with Brent as the benchmark. The move left oil $1.54 above the previous morning and about $56 higher than a year earlier, a level that feeds straight into fuel costs because crude oil often makes up more than half the cost per gallon of gasoline.

Brent Sets The Price

$116.55 per barrel reflects the Brent benchmark, the reference tied to a large share of the world’s traded crude. The U.S. Energy Information Administration now relies on Brent as its primary reference in its Annual Energy Outlook, so the number matters well beyond one trading screen.

$1.54 above the previous morning’s level shows the market moved higher within a single day. That kind of change can filter quickly into gasoline pricing, but not at the same speed in reverse: gas prices often fall more slowly than oil prices when oil drops.

Supply, Demand, And Policy

$56 above where oil stood a year earlier points to a much tighter price backdrop than 12 months ago. The current price depends largely on supply and demand and on news about potential future supply and demand, with geopolitics, OPEC+ decisions, and U.S. drilling policy feeding into the same trade.

1.5 million acres in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge were reopened for oil and gas leasing in 2025 under the Trump administration. That move sits inside the policy mix traders weigh when they price future supply, alongside the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the backup crude stockpile meant to protect energy security during sanctions, catastrophic storm damage, and war.

Gasoline Costs And Futures

More than half of the cost per gallon of gasoline comes from crude oil, so the Brent move matters first at the pump and then for industries that depend on fuel. Oil prices also update constantly while futures markets are open, and futures trading is an auction in which buyers and sellers agree today on delivery later.

The practical reading for consumers is simple: higher Brent keeps pressure on gasoline costs, while any eventual decline in oil would take longer to show up at the pump. For traders and refiners, the $116.55 level is the number to watch until the next change in supply, demand, or policy shifts the market again.