Overview

• Brent hovered near $69 and WTI near $65 after a 2.5% jump in the prior session, with light profit-taking tempering gains.
• EIA data showed a surprise 607,000-barrel U.S. crude draw for the week ended Sept. 19, diverging from the API’s roughly 3.8 million-barrel estimate.
• Ukraine intensified strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, and hawkish NATO and U.S. rhetoric added a risk premium tied to potential export disruptions.
• Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government reached a deal to resume pipeline shipments to Turkey, a move that could return about 230,000 barrels per day to the market.
• The Dallas Fed’s Q3 energy survey reported contracting activity and greater uncertainty, with executives guiding for roughly $63 WTI by year-end and tighter capital spending.