Brent Prices Soften Amid Ongoing Supply Risks and Bullish Sentiment

Crude oil prices have taken a hit this week despite ongoing supply disruptions and elevated speculative length. According to ING strategists Ewa Manthey and Warren Patterson, ICE Brent and WTI crude oil fell by around 2% and 1%, respectively, after opening the week lower.

The decline in prices is attributed to profit-taking following recent gains, as well as improved market sentiment driven by hopes for constructive discussions at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and the upcoming Trump-Xi meeting. However, supply concerns remain elevated due to persistent geopolitical risks.

Saudi Aramco has warned some European customers that it may not be able to allocate crude cargoes next month under long-term contracts due to disruptions caused by pipeline damage in last week's drone attacks. The East-West pipeline at Yanbu is expected to take several weeks to fully restart, limiting crude availability.

Speculative positioning remains firmly bullish, with money managers increasing their net long Brent position by 16,904 lots over the past week to 282,657 lots as of last Tuesday. This marks the largest net long since late May 2026.