The expectation that sanctions will again frustrate Iran’s oil industry and limit global supply has helped to boost prices close to 5% since the announcement. In the past, sanctions against Iran have cut the country’s crude exports by around 1 million barrels a day. But because the European Union and other intentional players have decided to stick with the deal, U.S. sanctions are likely to affect only up to around 350,000 barrels a day, once reinstated within six months’ time, according to analysts at MUFG Bank. The surge in prices this week prompted renewed oil market speculation that Brent could again reach $100 a barrel — a level not seen since before the price crash of late 2014. Click Read More below for additional information.

Oil prices edged lower on Friday and were on track for weekly losses, weighed down by rising Opec exports and strong output from the US. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were trading at $51.61 a barrel at 9.58am GMT, 40c below the last close and heading for a fall of more than 1.5% on the week. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were 40c lower at $48.63 a barrel and were set to drop by just more than 2% for the week.

Trucking activity in the United States slipped again in April as the freight market remained choppy early in the second quarter. Specifically, truck freight tonnage decreased 0.3% after contracting 1.5% in March, according to the American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index. “After surging 2.8% in February, and hitting the highest level since late May 2024, tonnage fell a combined 1.8% in March and April,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Unfortunately, a recovery that was expected this year hasn’t transpired as the industry deals with a freight market in flux from tariffs and softening economic indicators.” In April, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 113.0, down from 113.3 in March. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, was up 0.1% from the same month last year, the fourth straight year-over-year increase, albeit the smallest increase over this period.