Oil prices fall after Saudi pledge to restore lost output

NEW YORK - Oil prices retreated about 1% on Wednesday, extending the previous day’s declines after Saudi Arabia said it would quickly restore full production following last weekend’s attacks on its facilities and as U.S. crude stockpiles rose unexpectedly.

Tension in the Middle East remained elevated, however, after the Saudi Defense Ministry held a news conference, displaying drone and missile debris it said was “undeniable” evidence of Iranian aggression. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he ordered a major increase in sanctions on Iran in the latest U.S. move to pressure Tehran.

Iran has denied involvement in the strikes.

Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were down 34 cents, or 0.3%, at $64.21 a barrel by 11:12 a.m. ET (1512 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures were down 63 cents, or 1.1%, at $58.71.

U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 1.1 million barrels last week, Energy Information Administration data showed, compared with analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 2.5 million barrels.

“Rising stocks will further reassure the market that there is sufficient cushion to absorb temporary supply shortfalls after attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia,” Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said.

Still, crude inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for benchmark futures, declined for the 11th week in a row last week, the longest streak of losses since August 2018.

Oil prices tumbled 6% on Tuesday after the Saudi energy minister said the kingdom had restored oil supplies to customers to their level before the attacks by drawing from its inventories. Saturday’s attacks effectively shut 5% of global oil output.

“Overall, as long as we see this heightened volatility arising from escalating geopolitical risk along with 2020 oversupply/weak demand problems, generalists are likely to remain sidelined from the energy sector,” analysts at Tudor Pickering Holt said in a note.

The International Energy Agency said it currently did not see a need for the release of emergency oil stocks.

‘CHALLENGING TIMES’

Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman had said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia’s average oil production in September and October would be 9.89 million barrels per day (bpd) and that this month’s oil supply commitments to customers would be met fully.

Production capacity would reach 11 million bpd by the end of September and 12 million bpd by the end of November, the kingdom’s production capacity before the attacks, he said.

Relations between the United States and Iran have deteriorated since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear accord last year and reimposed sanctions on its oil exports.

Trump gave no explanation in a brief Twitter posting announcing the order for an increase in sanctions on Wednesday, but the initiative follows repeated U.S. assertions that the Islamic Republic was behind Saturday’s attack on the kingdom, a close U.S. ally.

“The global oil market has enough resources available even outside of shale (Saudi and China destocking, core-OPEC spare capacity) to balance a large outage without requiring an OECD SPR release (which remains a significant additional buffer to balance the market),” Goldman Sachs said in a note.

Brent prices are likely to remain below $75 a barrel even if the outage proves much more persistent than current guidance, Goldman said.

In its biggest price jump in 30 years, the international benchmark nearly hit $72 on Monday when the markets opened after the attack.




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