Stories
Oil Prices Steady as West Asian Supply Nears Pre-War Levels; Brent Near $103
- •Oil prices stabilized after a significant one-day fall, with Brent crude near $103 and US WTI near $89 a barrel.
- •West Asian oil supply is recovering, with Saudi Arabia resuming flows through a pipeline bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
- •A steady flow of crude is also leaving the Arabian Gulf via Hormuz, easing concerns about the strait's closure.
- •The US government plans to release up to 40 million barrels from its emergency reserves to combat surging fuel prices.
- •US crude inventories rose by 1 million barrels last week, and OPEC+ members are expected to keep production quotas unchanged for next month.
Key Questions Answered
Oil prices held steady following signs that West Asian supply had recovered close to pre-war levels, driven by Saudi Arabia resuming flows through its East-West pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz. Additionally, a steady trickle of crude managed to leave the Arabian Gulf through the strait via vessels crossing covertly.
The US government planned to release as much as 40 million barrels of oil from its emergency reserves to provide supply relief amid surging fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections. This final batch completed the country's total 172-million-barrel contribution to the coordinated global reserve drawdown.
Key OPEC+ members, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, were likely to keep their crude production quotas unchanged for the following month when meeting over the weekend, intending to ratify their existing roadmap and hold targets steady in November.
