On Thursday, October WTI crude oil closed at $64.67, up 0.70%, while October RBOB gasoline rose 1.12% to $1.98 per gallon. Prices rebounded from early losses due to short covering following comments from German Chancellor Merz regarding the low likelihood of a meeting between Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky. This sentiment, alongside a weaker dollar and a record-high S&P 500, supported confidence in energy demand.
Despite the price recovery, concerns over increasing global supplies are prominent. OPEC+ has approved a production increase of 547,000 bpd set to take effect on September 1, aiming to restore a total of 2.2 million bpd by September 2026. US crude oil inventories as of August 22 were 5.2% below the five-year average, while US crude production rose slightly to 13.439 million bpd. Additionally, the number of active US oil rigs fell to 411, near a 3.75-year low.
