Oil prices remained steady on Thursday 1 October, supported by the recovery of Gulf crude exports and an unexpected increase in US oil inventories, as diplomatic exchanges between the US and Iran drew investor attention, reported Reuters.
By 07:04 GMT, Brent crude futures had risen by 0.6% to $98.67 per barrel (bbl).
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Meanwhile, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures increased by 0.5% to $90.09/bbl.
Both benchmarks fell by more than 1% earlier in the session but later recovered those losses.
In September, Brent crude rose by approximately 14%, its largest monthly gain since July, while WTI increased by around 5%.
The market’s recent stability follows the restart of Saudi Arabia’s oil tanker loadings from Yanbu, after the resumption of operations on its East-West Pipeline.
In the US, crude inventories grew by 922,000bbl to 427.3 million barrels (mbbl) in the week ending 25 September, according to the Energy Information Administration.
This increase contrasted with forecasts from a Reuters poll that anticipated a drawdown of 264,000bbl.
On Wednesday, Iran stated it had received a US response to its latest proposal aimed at reviving a collapsed ceasefire in the Gulf region.
This came days after US President Donald Trump said he had rejected the proposal, which included a suggestion for the US to lift its blockade of Iranian ports while Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week, reported Reuters.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reported that Tehran had not received a formal rejection.
Meanwhile, two sources indicated to Reuters that Opec+ oil producers are likely to leave output targets unchanged for November when the group meets online on Sunday.
The meeting will involve Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Opec+ completed a phased rollback of a 1.65mbbl per day supply cut in September, maintaining production targets for October.
Opec and Russian officials did not comment on the upcoming meeting.
