OIL: Mid-Day Oil Summary: Crude Makes Gains

Crude markets are gaining ground again today having slipped in Wednesday’s session. Falling stocks and talk of a delay to OPEC cut unwinding weight against US and Chinese economic weakness.

• Brent OCT 24 up 0.7% at 76.58$/bbl
• WTI OCT 24 up 0.6% at 72.33$/bbl
• In a Washington Post opinion column, David Ignatius writes that, according to unnamed US officials, "U.S. officials think Hamas leader Yehiya Sinwar,[...] favors the deal.[...]But Hamas seems to be playing a waiting game, probably in the hope that Iran or Hezbollah will attack Israel — and thereby transform the battlefield."
• "Ukraine conducted a drone attack on Russia's Marinovka military airfield in the southern Russian region of Volgograd, striking a storage site for fuel and glide bombs". Marinovka lies 275km east of the internationally-recognised Russo-Ukrainian border.
• A report on Wednesday of revised employment statistics in the U.S. showed that fewer jobs were added in 2024 than previously reported and added to weak economic data last week from China that was already weighing on markets.
• OPEC has received updated compensation plans from Iraq and Kazakhstan for their overproduction in the first seven months of this year, OPEC said.