Oil futures fell on Wednesday, after suffering a sharp loss a day earlier, pressured as Saudi Arabia’s output levels looked to recover much sooner than expected and the U.S. government reported a weekly rise in domestic crude inventories, following four consecutive weeks of declines. Prices briefly pared some of their losses in earlier dealings on the back of rising U.S. tensions with Iran.
Trump via Twitter that he has ordered Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to “substantially increase” sanctions on Iran, however, helped oil prices pare much of their earlier losses. U.S. intelligence indicates Iran was the staging ground for the attack in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Defense Ministry on Wednesday also said Iran was responsible for the attacks, according to Dow Jones.
West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery the U.S. benchmark contract, lost $1.23, or 2.1%, to settle at $58.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after shedding 5.7% on Tuesday. On Monday, it posted the largest daily gain for the most-active contract since Sept. 22, 2008 and finished at its highest level since May, according to Dow Jones Market Data. November Brent crude shed 95 cents, or 1.5%, to $63.60 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. The international benchmark sank 6.5% Tuesday, following a 14.6% rise Monday, the sharpest percentage gain on record dating back to 1988. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on Tuesday said at a news conference that Saudi Aramco has already restored 50% of lost production since the weekend disruption. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Saudis are using its reserves to supply oil to customers is already supplying customers at pre-attack levels and the kingdom expects normal production of 9.8 million barrels a day will return by the end of September. “While these reassurances have helped calm the market since the mayhem that began the week, a geopolitical risk premium is expected to linger even after Saudi supply is completely restored,” said Christin Redmond, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric. “The attacks demonstrate vulnerability of key global supplies, raising the question of whether similar attacks may happen in the future. Additionally, rising tensions both locally within the Middle East, as well as between the U.S. and Iran, bring further risks.”
The Saturday attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq plant and its Khurais oil field temporarily disrupted an estimated 5% of global production and it also heightened tensions between the Saudis and Iranians. Oil traders also reacted to the latest figures on U.S. petroleum supplies. The Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported that U.S. crude supplies rose by 1.1 million barrels for the week ended Sept. 13. They were forecast to fall by 2 million barrels, according to analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. The API reported Tuesday a climb of 592,000 barrels. The EIA data showed that gasoline inventories climbed by 800,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose by 400,000 barrels last week. The S&P Global Platts survey revealed expectations for a supply decline of 800,000 barrels for gasoline and an increase of 300,000 barrels for distillates.
Back on Nymex, October gasoline fell 1% to $1.6577 a gallon and October heating oil shed 0.8% to $1.9733 a gallon, after its 4.5% fall a day earlier. Both contracts logged declines of more than 4% Tuesday. Oil prices also finished lower on Wednesday on the back of strength in the U.S. dollar, which followed the Federal Reserve decision to lower its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point.
