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On October 6, WTI crude oil closed down $1.61 (-2.54%) at $61.88 per barrel, while RBOB gasoline closed down $0.0453 (-2.25%). The decline is attributed to Saudi Arabia’s intention to prompt OPEC+ to accelerate production increases, which raises concerns about a global crude oil surplus in Q4. Additionally, the U.S. reported a weak payroll increase of only 22,000 jobs and the unemployment rate climbed to 4.3%, the highest in 3.75 years.
OPEC+ is expecting to boost production by an additional 547,000 bpd starting September 1, contributing to a total restoration of 2.2 million bpd by September 2026. Recently, OPEC’s crude production rose to 28.55 million bpd, its highest in over two years. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest report indicated a surprising 2.4 million barrel increase in crude inventories and a 1.7 million barrel rise in distillate stockpiles, countering expectations of declines.
US crude oil production was 13.423 million bpd as of August 29, slightly below its record high, while the number of active U.S. oil rigs increased by 2 to 414, remaining above the 4-year low of 410 rigs recorded on August 1.
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