Oil prices rise on stalled US-Iran talks and tight fuel markets
USO•Oil prices rose as stalled US-Iran talks and falling US gasoline and distillate inventories supported prices. Brent was on track for a roughly 14% monthly gain, while US crude inventories rose by 922,000 barrels.
1. Prices and exports
Brent’s November contract rose 1% to $103.71 a barrel, while the more active December contract gained 2.8% to $98.81. US West Texas Intermediate rose 2.2% to $91.98. Brent was headed for its biggest monthly climb since July, while WTI was on track for a 5.5% gain. Goldman Sachs estimated Gulf oil exports had recovered to 23.3 million barrels per day over the past week.
2. US fuel inventories
US gasoline inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels to 204.4 million barrels last week, and distillate stocks dropped by 2.3 million barrels to 105.2 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said. Crude inventories rose by 922,000 barrels to 427.3 million barrels, against analysts’ expectations for a draw of 264,000 barrels.
3. Talks and policy
Oil prices also drew support from stalled US-Iran peace talks. The White House has urged the European Union to draw down emergency diesel inventories, two people familiar with the effort said. President Donald Trump is considering allowing sales of red-dyed diesel rather than imposing an export ban, the article said.
