US oil inventories fall by 8.6 million barrels, supporting WTI — OilPrice

US crude oil inventories fell by 8.6 million barrels in the week ending October 9 — substantially more than the 288,000-barrel decline expected by traders. Against this backdrop, November WTI futures had risen 6.46% for the week by Thursday evening, to $97.58 per barrel, OilPrice reports.

Market reaction to EIA data

After the decline, commercial crude oil inventories stood at 415.6 million barrels, still 3% above the five-year average. Distillate inventories fell by 2.5 million barrels and were 12% below the five-year average.

At the same time, gasoline inventories increased by 3.5 million barrels. Over the past four weeks, US petroleum product supplied averaged 21.1 million barrels per day, 2% more than a year earlier. Average gasoline demand was estimated at 8.7 million barrels per day, while the average for distillates stood at 4 million barrels per day.

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

Brent remained above $100

December Brent futures traded near $106 per barrel. According to the publication, the international benchmark retained a premium due to risks to shipping near the Strait of Hormuz, but buyers reacted more actively to the US inventory data and bought WTI.

On the same day, the International Energy Agency agreed to accelerate the release of the remaining volumes from previously agreed reserves, including more than 20 million barrels of diesel fuel. According to the agency, countries had previously pledged to provide more than 400 million barrels of oil and petroleum products, of which about 330 million barrels had already been released. Spain also announced its intention to release 4.4 million barrels from strategic reserves in October.