Overview
- Brent traded near $64 and WTI hovered around $60 on Tuesday, with prices little changed after modest gains in the prior session.
- Senate movement toward a funding deal to end the 40-day U.S. government shutdown lifted near-term demand expectations, providing a limited price boost.
- Oversupply indicators constrained rallies, with Asian floating storage roughly doubling in recent weeks and Vortexa estimating 95.18 million barrels parked on tankers for seven days or more.
- U.S. data show recent inventory builds even as crude stocks sit 5.3% below the five-year seasonal average, reinforcing a mixed but broadly bearish balance.
- OPEC+ kept plans to lift December output by 137,000 bpd and signal a pause in early 2026, while new U.S. sanctions saw Lukoil declare force majeure in Iraq and product export constraints supported strong diesel and gasoline margins in Europe.