Oil Prices Steady Amid Middle East Supply Risks and G7 Stockpile Release
Oil prices saw modest gains on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, as global markets weighed rising Middle East exports against escalating supply risks. Brent futures climbed 0.3% to settle at US$100.58 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude edged up slightly to US$89.44. The market reacted to a surge in Middle Eastern crude exports, with around 12 million barrels per day of crude and 2 million bpd of refined products shipped out over the past week, according to Vitol's CEO.
Supply concerns persisted due to ongoing hostilities in the Middle East, particularly attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi airports in Jazan and Najran. Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman reported that oil pumped through the East-West pipeline had reached 5.8 million barrels by Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of a potential massive Russian attack, raising fears of further disruptions in global energy supplies.
In response to rising diesel prices, the Group of Seven (G7) agreed to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from emergency reserves. The International Energy Agency is set to meet next week to finalize details of the diesel stock release, aiming to address shortages and record-high prices driven by wars in Iran and Ukraine. The US Energy Information Administration projected a drop in world petroleum production and demand from 2025 to 2026, but forecast a rebound to record highs by 2027.
In the US, the oil market awaited weekly storage reports from the American Petroleum Institute and the EIA. Analysts estimated a 1.7 million barrel increase in US crude storage for the week ending October 2, which would mark the first time since August that stocks rose for three consecutive weeks.