Chevron CEO warns of higher oil price risks amid Iran conflict

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth isn’t exactly known for panic. So when the head of one of the world’s largest energy companies says the safety nets holding global oil markets together have essentially disappeared, it’s worth paying attention. Wirth warned on August 2, 2026, that risks to global oil supply from the Iran conflict are “very real,” pointing to a market that has been systematically stripped of the inventories and strategic reserves that normally cushion supply shocks. The result: crude prices have punched above $100 per barrel for the first time in months, and the pain is showing up at every gas station in America. The numbers behind the squeeze West Texas Intermediate crude is hovering around $102-103 per barrel, while Brent crude sits at $107-108 as of early September 2026. Those figures represent a dramatic escalation from where markets stood before the Iran conflict intensified in late February 2026. The scale of the disruption dwarfs recent precedents. At various points since the escalation began, between 6.5 and 9 million barrels per day have been pulled off the market. The supply disruptions attributed to the Russia-Ukraine war, which themselves roiled global energy marke...