Overview
- Benchmark crude futures eased, leaving October on track for roughly a 3% decline, with Brent near $64.7 a barrel and WTI around $60.2.
- Sources say OPEC+ is leaning toward a roughly 137,000 bpd output increase for December, extending a series of monthly hikes that have lifted targets by more than 2.7 million bpd since April.
- Dollar strength following Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s signal that a December rate cut is not guaranteed is curbing investor appetite for commodities.
- U.S. crude inventories fell by 6.86 million barrels in the week to Oct. 24, briefly supporting prices, even as U.S. output hit a record 13.6 million bpd.
- Washington’s sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil are raising disruption risks, yet weak Chinese factory activity and expectations that flows can be rerouted are limiting price support.