Brent rises to $101.51 amid storm and attacks — Channel NewsAsia

Brent crude futures rose by 93 cents, or 0.92%, to $101.51 per barrel as of 00:22 GMT on October 7. The market was affected by the threat posed by a storm to US oil infrastructure and attacks on airports in Saudi Arabia. US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 82 cents, or 0.92%, to $90.25 per barrel, Channel NewsAsia reports, citing Reuters.

Storm in the Gulf of Mexico

US weather forecasters said that a storm forming in the Gulf of Mexico could become the first Atlantic hurricane of 2026 within two days. According to their forecasts, it could affect oil and gas production facilities.

Offshore areas in the storm's path account for 15% of US crude oil production and 5% of the country's natural gas output. The storm could also affect six oil refineries. Refineries in states along the Gulf of Mexico coast provide about half of the total US refining capacity, which stands at 18.2 million barrels per day.

According to sources citing the American Petroleum Institute, US crude oil and gasoline inventories declined last week, while distillate stocks rose slightly. Crude oil inventories fell by 2.09 million barrels in the week ending October 2.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Attacks in Saudi Arabia

Saudi aviation authorities said that Jizan and Najran airports came under two attacks on Monday evening. This occurred amid intensified fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis from Yemen.

At the same time, supplies of Middle Eastern oil were increasing. Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that the East-West Pipeline had reached a level of 5.8 million barrels per day. The head of Vitol said that over the past 7–10 days, tankers had shipped about 12 million barrels of crude oil and 2 million barrels of petroleum products per day from the Middle East.

KCM Trade chief analyst Tim Waterer said the storm creates a risk of disruptions to production and refining at a time when the market is already facing supply problems.