On Tuesday, October WTI crude oil closed at $63.53, down $1.55 or 2.39%, while October RBOB gasoline fell to $1.95, down $0.0370 or 1.86%. The declines followed eased global supply concerns as Russia announced that its Volgograd refinery, capable of processing 300,000 bpd, will resume operations after repairs from a Ukrainian drone attack.
Additionally, the BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana, which had been offline since August 19, has restarted its 115,000 bpd Pipestill unit. Reports indicated a weekly increase of 11% in crude oil stored on stationary tankers, totaling 96.77 million barrels as of August 22. OPEC+ also plans to increase crude production by an additional 547,000 bpd from September 1, reversing previous cuts and gradually restoring a total of 2.2 million bpd by September 2026.
The consensus anticipates a decline in Wednesday’s weekly EIA crude inventories by 2.0 million barrels, alongside a 1.6 million barrel drop in gasoline supplies. Notably, as of August 15, U.S. crude oil inventories were 5.6% below the seasonal five-year average.
