Crude oil futures were down slightly to kick off the trading week as investors monitor Middle East exports and the release of emergency stockpiles by G7 countries.
November West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures fell $0.96, or 1.05%, to $90.15 per barrel at 16:08 GMT on Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. US crude prices are coming off a weekly loss of about 2% but remain up 57% year-to-date.
Brent, the international benchmark for oil prices, hovered around $100 to start the trading week. December Brent crude futures tumbled $1.28, or 1.25%, to $100.92 per barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange.
Global energy markets cheered last week when various outlets reported that Middle East oil exports have returned to or near pre-conflict levels in the final week of September. Even oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have improved in recent weeks.
Traders further celebrated when G7 nations said they will release up to 100 million barrels of oil and diesel stocks to bring down prices.
“The G7 decision to tap strategic reserves is taking some of the immediate supply anxiety out of the price, while there’s a growing view that Saudi export volumes are moving back toward pre-war levels, even if those barrels are still moving at higher cost and via less efficient routes,” said Tim Waterer, chief analyst at KCM Trade, according to CNBC.
“That combination is enough to subdue prices for now even though the risks of further damage to energy infrastructure around the Gulf region haven’t gone away.”
But markets are still on edge as they monitor geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said over the weekend that his forces will double down on their attacks on Russia’s oil refineries due to Moscow’s newest doctrine, which he says is meant to scare Ukrainian residents.
In other energy commodities, November natural gas futures ticked up $0.016, or 0.58%, to $3.051 per million British thermal units (Btu). November gasoline futures erased $0.0511, or 1.54%, to $3.2613 a gallon. November heating oil futures jumped $0.0329, or 0.73%, to $4.534 per gallon.