Oil prices edged lower on Wednesday after the world’s leading energy watchdog agreed to rush emergency fuel stockpiles onto the market, easing fears of a deeper supply crunch even as a hurricane threat built in the Gulf of Mexico and attacks continued in the Middle East.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, settled down 38 cents at $100.20 a barrel. U.S. crude fell $1.16, or 1.3%, to $88.28. Trading was choppy, with prices swinging between gains and losses as traders weighed good news on supply against a long list of risks.
The biggest push lower came from the International Energy Agency, which represents major oil-consuming nations including the U.S. The group agreed to speed up releases of oil from government emergency reserves that had already been announced and to put diesel first in line. The IEA said finishing those releases as quickly as possible could bring about 100 million barrels to market. Some analysts and governments noted that this is largely oil already promised, not a brand-new release of that size. France said it would release 10 million barrels of diesel from its own strategic stocks.
In plain terms, governments are opening their emergency fuel tanks to bring prices down. That matters because diesel has been the tightest part of the market. Diesel powers the trucks, trains, tractors and ships that move almost everything Americans buy, so when diesel gets expensive, the cost of groceries, deliveries and building materials goes up with it. The national average for diesel climbed above $6 a gallon for the first time ever in September.
Supply from the Middle East has also been improving. Crude exports from the region topped their prewar levels on four of the final seven days of September, as producers found new routes and shipping workarounds despite the conflict. Saudi Arabia has been loading crude from ports on both its Persian Gulf and Red Sea coasts.
But the risks have not gone away. There have been at least nine attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz so far in October, according to British maritime officials, as the U.S.-Iran conflict drags on. Yemen’s Houthis also launched missiles and drones at Aden’s international airport on Wednesday. Analysts said those attacks kept Brent from falling as far as U.S. crude.
Closer to home, forecasters said a storm forming in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to become the first Atlantic hurricane of 2026 and is likely to hit oil and gas facilities. The Gulf produced about 2.05 million barrels of oil a day in September, roughly 15% of all U.S. production, or about 1 of every 7 barrels. Consulting firm Earth Science Associates estimated that about 11.2 million barrels of oil output could be lost while the storm passes, well above the 7.1 million barrels disrupted by Tropical Storm Bertha in July. Chevron has already begun pulling nonessential workers off its offshore platforms.
U.S. stockpiles also tightened. Crude inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels last week to 424.1 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said, while analysts had expected a small increase. Distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, also fell. Gasoline stocks rose.
“Europe is ground zero for this whole supply crunch,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital, adding that the stockpile releases should ease some of the pressure on U.S. supplies.
For American drivers, relief at the pump has been slow. The national average for regular gasoline was $4.41 a gallon on Oct. 1, according to AAA, down nearly 7 cents from the week before but still $1.25 higher than a year ago. September was the most expensive September on record at the pump, averaging $4.33 a gallon, 50 cents above the previous high set in 2023.
The emergency stockpile releases are the main tool governments are using right now to bring fuel costs down while the Middle East conflict continues. The Group of Seven nations have also agreed not to restrict their own energy exports, which helps keep fuel moving across borders. Whether it works depends on two things: whether Middle East exports keep recovering, and how badly the Gulf storm hits American production and refineries later this week.
For now, oil is holding near $100 a barrel for Brent, and drivers and truckers are watching both the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Mexico.
JBizNews Desk | Houston
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