Oil prices, which had fallen for three consecutive sessions, are now showing signs of stabilization. The gains made following the start of the Israel-Hamas war have been wiped out, with more than half of the increase erased.
Price Action
- West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery gained just over 0.1%, or 10 cents, reaching $83.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
- December Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose by 0.3%, or 28 cents, to $88.35 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
- November gasoline increased by 1.1%, or 24 cents, to $2.29 a gallon on Nymex.
- November heating oil, on the other hand, experienced a 0.7% decline at $3.02 a gallon.
- November natural gas saw a gain of 0.9%, or 27 cents, at $2.99 per million British thermal units.
Market Drivers
The disappointing data on European economic activity impacted oil prices on Tuesday. Additionally, the release of more Hamas hostages and the delay of the expected Israeli ground invasion of Gaza also contributed to the decline.
While fears of further hostilities between Israel and Hamas remain, they have diminished somewhat in intensity, according to David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.
The U.S. benchmark WTI crude futures began the month just under $83 a barrel and reached a peak close to $88.50 a barrel last week, as reported by FactSet data. However, more than half of these gains have now been reversed.
Traders are now eagerly awaiting the official inventory data release from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
Macquarie has predicted an anticipated increase of 1.1 million barrels in U.S. crude oil supply, along with weekly inventory declines of 1.3 million barrels for gasoline and 3.3 million barrels for distillates.
