Oil pump in bright sunshine ©Adobe Stock Images
Oil prices declined in Asian trading on Thursday, interrupting a three-session advance as investors considered developments in the US-Iran conflict and indications that more crude was moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
At 04:42 ET (08:42 GMT), November Brent Oil Futures were down 0.2% at $95.43 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined by the same percentage to $90.83 per barrel.
The two benchmarks had reached their highest levels in five weeks during the preceding three sessions as renewed military exchanges between the United States and Iran raised concerns about potential disruption to Middle Eastern oil supplies.
Trump Comments Follow Renewed US-Iran Military Exchanges
US forces carried out strikes on Iran’s southern coast on Wednesday, followed by retaliatory action from Tehran against US positions across the region. The exchanges represented the most intense military activity between the two countries since July.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the latest American campaign against Iran would not continue for an extended period.
Trump also said the US had targeted Iranian radar and missile systems, together with capabilities connected with laying mines around the Strait of Hormuz.
Hormuz Crude Shipments Reach 17 Million Barrels on Monday
Oil markets continued to monitor traffic through the Strait of Hormuz following the disruption to shipments caused by the conflict.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said 17 million barrels of crude moved through the waterway on Monday, the highest daily volume since flows were reduced by the conflict.
Vessel movements remained variable. Preliminary Kpler figures indicated that four commodity vessels transited the strait on Tuesday, compared with an average of approximately 13 over the preceding 10 days.
US Commercial Crude Stocks Record First Decline in Five Weeks
US commercial crude inventories decreased by 4.5 million barrels last week, marking their first weekly decline in five weeks. The result compared with analysts’ expectations for a small increase.
Gasoline stocks fell by 1.2 million barrels. Distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, increased by approximately 800,000 barrels.
OPEC+ Meeting Turns Attention to October Production Policy
OPEC+ is expected to keep its oil production policy for October unchanged when members meet on Sunday.
The meeting comes after the scheduled unwinding of a 1.65 million-barrel-per-day tranche of production cuts. For September, OPEC+ had raised output quotas by 188,000 barrels per day.