LONDON: The Brent crude price fell 0.55% to USD 88.42 a barrel by 1:15 p.m. GMT Wednesday, Reuters reported. WTI lost 0.3% to USD 82.95 as weaker demand forecasts outweighed Middle East supply risks. Both contracts had gained more than USD 1 earlier.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its 2026 demand forecast on Aug. 12. OPEC now expects growth of 580,000 barrels per day this year.
The International Energy Agency forecast a 1.6-million-barrel daily demand contraction in 2026, Reuters said. The IEA projected supply would fall by 4.3 million barrels per day. It estimated a 2026 deficit of about 1.27 million barrels per day.
Supply risks remained after separate Tuesday ship attacks near two major export routes. The United States reported one incident in the Strait of Hormuz. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis claimed another in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Read: Oil Prices Rise as Brent Nears $90 After Two Ship Attacks
Reuters-cited shipping data showed eight vessels crossed Hormuz Tuesday. Before the Iran war, 125 to 140 ships used the waterway daily.
A senior Iranian source told Reuters that Tehran and Washington had made no progress toward restoring their interim agreement. The source said the sides continued exchanging messages through Pakistan and Qatar.
Preliminary American Petroleum Institute data covered the week ended Aug. 7. U.S. crude stocks rose by about 9.1 million barrels, market sources told Reuters. Gasoline inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels. Distillate stocks declined by 596,000 barrels.
