Global Oil Prices Today, Oct. 15: Brent Reaches $104.42 per Barrel

Brent crude fell $1.64, or 1.6%, to $104.42 a barrel.

According to ambassador Arjan, the price of Brent crude oil decreased by 1 dollar and 64 cents, equivalent to 1.6%, to 104 dollars and 42 cents per barrel. The price of American "West Texas Intermediate" (WTI) crude oil also decreased by 98 cents, equivalent to 1%, to 94 dollars and 11 cents per barrel and lost part of the price growth of the previous transactions.

The price of American oil reached its highest level in the last three weeks on Wednesday, following attacks on the headquarters of Saudi Aramco and security incidents for ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Maritime authorities announced on Wednesday that in the past 24 hours, a container ship and a dry bulk cargo ship have sunk in separate incidents near the strait after being hit by projectiles.

A US official said on Wednesday that the Trump administration is considering easing sanctions against the so-called "Shadow Fleet" as the war situation with Iran has disrupted shipping and caused an unprecedented increase in shipping costs. These vessels used to transport oil and oil products from countries such as Russia, Iran and Venezuela; The purpose of this action is to help adjust prices.

The American official added: The new negotiations are focused on the fact that the United States will probably allow "allowed" (legal) oil to be transported by ships that were previously under sanctions.

The increase in oil production in Russia and the Middle East has prevented prices from rising further. The International Energy Agency reported on Wednesday that Russian crude oil production rose by 65,000 barrels to 8.43 million barrels per day in September. However, this figure shows a decrease of 870,000 barrels per day compared to last year.

The International Energy Agency also said that crude oil exports from Persian Gulf producers in the Middle East rose by 4.4 million barrels per day in September, to about 75 percent of pre-war levels.

"Sending oil via alternative routes and logistics arrangements have helped avoid a more severe supply shock, but come at a higher cost and expose global flows to further disruption..." Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insights at Philip Nova, said in a note to clients.

In the United States, inventories of crude oil and distillates fell last week, while gasoline inventories rose, market sources said on Wednesday, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute.

According to market sources, crude oil inventories fell by 11.1 million barrels in the week ending October 9. The decline was much larger than analysts polled by Reuters had predicted.

According to a Reuters report, Haitong Futures said in a note on Thursday: “Oil prices did not react much despite the sharp reduction in inventories. "The lack of price increases due to positive news suggests that investors are cautious about pursuing prices higher at current levels."

The official U.S. oil and gas inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration will be released a day late due to the Columbus Day holiday on Monday afternoon.