Oil prices held steady in Asian trading on Thursday after rising in the previous session, as traders weighed signs of recovering Middle East crude flows against uncertainty over whether the improvement can be sustained. Brent crude futures for December edged up 0.2% to $98.23 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were little changed at $90.49 a barrel; the front-month Brent contract settled at $103.50 in the previous session. Brent gained about 14% in September, its strongest monthly increase since July, while WTI rose about 5%. Middle East crude exports reached 16.328 million barrels per day in September, their highest level since the conflict began in February, according to Kpler data, though that figure remains about 3.2 million bpd below February levels. Saudi Arabia also resumed tanker loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting its East-West pipeline, while Iran said it had received a U.S. response to its latest proposal for restoring a ceasefire. U.S. crude inventories rose by 922,000 barrels last week, against a 700,000-barrel draw expected by analysts, while gasoline stocks fell 1.7 million barrels and distillate stocks dropped 2.3 million barrels, as President Donald Trump said he was still discussing a possible ban on U.S. diesel exports.
Colgate-Palmolive CompanyBrent holds gains as Middle East supply risks persist despite recovering crude flows
Middle East supply risks and uncertainty over sustained crude flows support WTI prices
