Overview
- Brent and WTI edged lower on Friday and were on pace for a third straight monthly decline as a firmer U.S. dollar curbed commodity buying after Chair Jerome Powell said a December rate cut was not guaranteed.
- OPEC+ is reported to be leaning toward a modest December output boost of about 137,000 barrels per day, extending a series of monthly increases that have lifted targets by more than 2.7 million bpd this year.
- U.S. crude inventories fell by 6.86 million barrels to 416 million in the week ended Oct. 24, even as U.S. production rose to a record near 13.6 million bpd, according to the EIA.
- Western sanctions on Russian oil majors and Ukraine’s strikes on energy infrastructure have tightened some flows, though higher output from producers such as Saudi Arabia has helped cushion the impact.
- Following the Trump–Xi meeting in Busan, Trump said China agreed to begin purchasing U.S. energy, but analysts questioned the scale of any demand lift, and dollar strength continued to cap price gains.