Oil prices fall nearly 2% as Middle East supply concerns ease
USO•Oil prices fell nearly 2% on Tuesday as increased Middle Eastern crude exports and a G7 agreement to release emergency diesel and crude stockpiles eased supply concerns. Brent was down 1.8% at $98.48 a barrel, and WTI fell 1.6% to $88.01.
1. Prices decline
Brent futures fell $1.84 to $98.48 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $1.42 to $88.01. The moves put Brent on track for its lowest close since September 8 and WTI for its lowest close since August 31.
2. More crude exports
Vitol’s CEO said about 12 million barrels per day of crude and 2 million barrels per day of refined products had left the Middle East by tanker in the past seven to 10 days. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said flows through the East-West Pipeline to Yanbu reached 5.8 million barrels as of Tuesday morning.
3. Reserves and inventories
The G7 agreed to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from emergency reserves but did not specify how much each country would provide or the mix of products. Analysts estimated U.S. firms added 1.8 million barrels of crude to storage in the week ended October 2.
