Brent crude slipped up 29 cents, or 0.28%, to $102.60 a barrel at 0022 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate climbed 27 cents, or 0.29%, to $93.14 a barrel. The gains followed Thursday’s jump, when Brent closed more than $4 higher and WTI was up over $2 after a Wall Street Journal report and China’s export curbs sparked fears of tightening fuel supplies.
Brent is on track for a 1.93% loss for the week after a 14% overall gain in September, while WTI gained just 4% last month. KCM Trade chief analyst Tim Waterer said the market was “simply taking a breather” after a disruptive Thursday, noting that a healthier‑looking Saudi export picture was being offset by reports of a U.S. aircraft carrier heading toward the Gulf and China’s decision to curb refined product exports.
The WSJ reported that the U.S. is sending a third aircraft carrier and up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East as President Donald Trump weighs resuming strikes on Iran after the U.S. midterm elections. Trump told reporters at the White House, “Now I have to make a decision. They’ll either sign a very fair deal, or they won’t exist any longer.”
China imposed a liquid fuel export ban in March after the outbreak of the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran, relaxed the curbs in July, and is now managing diesel, gasoline and jet fuel shipments on a monthly basis. The country began a week‑long holiday on Thursday without giving major refiners a green light to export to regions other than Hong Kong and Macau in October, leaving it unclear whether Beijing will resume permitting refiners’ exports after the holiday ends on October 7.
The Trump administration has urged Germany and France to draw down emergency diesel inventories to help ease soaring global fuel prices or face a potential U.S. diesel export ban, according to three people close to the discussions. Mukesh Sahdev, chief oil analyst of XAnalysts, said U.S. pressure on EU nations to release oil is also adding to that check on prices. A source told Reuters that the U.S. has asked the EU to release 120 million barrels of diesel over the next six months. EU countries hold nearly 109 million tons of emergency crude and fuel stocks.
Market participants will watch next week’s U.S. Treasury inflation report and any further developments in U.S. military deployments in the Middle East for clues on how global oil prices will move.
