Oil prices settle lower as IEA agrees to accelerate oil stock release
USO•Oil prices settled lower after the IEA agreed to speed up previously announced stock releases, which could bring around 100 million barrels to market. Brent settled at $100.20 a barrel and U.S. WTI at $88.28.
1. Oil prices settle lower
Brent crude futures settled down 38 cents, or 0.38%, at $100.20 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $1.16, or 1.3%, to $88.28.
2. Stock releases and inventories
The IEA said completing previously announced releases as quickly as possible could bring around 100 million barrels to market, though analysts and some governments said that figure did not necessarily represent a fresh intervention of that size. The agency also plans to prioritize diesel. Separately, U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels to 424.1 million in the week ended October 2, against analysts’ expectations for a 1.7 million-barrel increase.
3. Supply risks remain
Attacks in the Middle East and Ukraine and a storm forecast to hit U.S. oil and gas facilities contributed to supply concerns. A model forecast from Earth Science Associates estimated that about 11.2 million barrels of Gulf of Mexico oil production could be lost during the storm.
