Oil End of Day Summary: Crude Suffers Late Plunge

WTI has plunged from $89.9/b in US hours, erasing its gains earlier in the day, as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East sparks huge volatility. The fall followed reports that Hamas has released some hostages following mediation with Qatar. Despite the drop, WTI remains up around 1% since the start of the week.

• WTI NOV 23 down -0.8% at 88.64$/bbl
• WTI NOV 23-DEC 23 down -0.2$/bbl at 0.8$/bbl
• US total rig count increased by 2 on the week to 624, according to Baker Hughes
• Venezuela has released five prisoners, including a well-known opposition figure as part of Washington's demand that certain prisoners be freed this week in return for temporarily eased sanctions on its oil & gas sector.
• India imported 1.76mbpd of Russian oil from April to September – the first half of fiscal 2023/24 – more than double compared with the same period last year, tanker data from industry sources showed.
• China’s oil imports from Russia fell 17% on the month in September from the record high in August according to General Administration of Customs data.
• Urals crude loadings from the Russian Baltic Ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga are expected to hit 1.68m b/d in October, the highest since May, according to a loading programme reported by Bloomberg.
• JP Morgan does not expect Middle East instability to result in a long-term oil price spike according to a recent research note.
• RBC’s head of commodity strategy Helima Croft said that global oil markets may soon lose 300-500,000 bpd if the US more strictly enforces Iranian sanctions after potential involvement in Hamas attacks on Israel.
• Russia is reorientating its energy exports to Asia-Pacific Deputy Energy Minister Sergey Mochalnikov told TASS.