Brent Tops $106, WTI Breaks $100 on Trump China Oil Deal, Hormuz Fears

Brent crude surged past $106/bbl and WTI broke above $100 (peaking $101.35, settling $100.80) on May 15 after Trump announced China will buy significant US oil volumes, reigniting gains amid Strait of Hormuz disruptions and Fed signals for steady rates. The week began with US diesel at $5.62/gal and tight inventories (102.3M bbl, ~500k bpd shortfall) on May 11, WTI climbing toward $96 then topping $101.90 on May 12 amid OPEC+ 2M bpd cuts and Iran tensions. Prices struggled below $100 on May 13-14 due to stalled US-Iran talks, IEA demand downgrades, and Trump-Xi uncertainty, dipping under $97 before the sharp rebound for a ~5% weekly gain.