{"id":119473,"date":"2025-10-02T09:32:52","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T05:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/?p=119473"},"modified":"2025-10-02T09:32:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T05:32:57","slug":"oil-prices-edge-higher-after-hitting-four-month-lows-opec-meeting-in-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/oil-prices-edge-higher-after-hitting-four-month-lows-opec-meeting-in-focus\/10\/02\/market-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Oil Prices Edge Higher After Hitting Four-Month Lows; OPEC+ Meeting in Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Oil prices steadied in Asian trade on Thursday, recovering slightly after sliding to near four-month lows in the previous session as rising U.S. crude inventories and speculation of another OPEC+ supply hike weighed heavily on sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Market Performance<\/strong><br>As of 21:52 ET (01:52 GMT), <strong>Brent crude futures (December delivery)<\/strong> rose 0.5% to <strong>$65.67 per barrel<\/strong>, while <strong>West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures<\/strong> gained 0.5% to <strong>$62.09 per barrel<\/strong>. Both benchmarks have shed nearly 7% so far this week, pressured by growing concerns of a supply glut and broader fears about slowing global economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EIA Data: Inventories Rise Above Expectations<\/strong><br>The latest U.S. <strong>Energy Information Administration (EIA)<\/strong> data revealed a <strong>1.8 million-barrel build in crude stocks<\/strong> last week, surpassing expectations for a 1.5 million-barrel increase. The rise marked the first inventory gain in three weeks, suggesting softer refining activity and weaker demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gasoline inventories increased by <strong>300,000 barrels<\/strong> to 228.7 million.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Distillate stocks climbed <strong>600,000 barrels<\/strong> to 120.9 million.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The figures added selling pressure to an already fragile market, with traders viewing them as confirmation of slowing demand trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>OPEC+ Eyes Further Production Hike<\/strong><br>Supply-side concerns also dominated sentiment, with reports that <strong>OPEC+ may raise output again in November<\/strong>. The group has already agreed to add <strong>137,000 barrels per day<\/strong> in October, but discussions at its upcoming <strong>October 5 meeting<\/strong> could include a larger increase of up to <strong>500,000 barrels per day<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If confirmed, the move would mark another step away from the deep production cuts enacted in 2023\u20132024, as the alliance seeks to defend market share. Analysts warn the policy shift risks tipping markets further into oversupply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>US Government Shutdown Adds Pressure<\/strong><br>The newly initiated <strong>U.S. government shutdown<\/strong> has compounded pressure on crude markets. With Congress failing to pass a funding bill, traders worry about delayed release of critical U.S. economic data such as nonfarm payrolls and inflation, leaving investors without key demand signals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The broader political impasse has also dented risk appetite in financial markets, further weighing on commodities tied to growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oil prices steadied in Asian trade on Thursday, recovering slightly after sliding to near four-month lows in the previous session as rising U.S. crude inventories and speculation of another OPEC+ supply hike weighed heavily on sentiment. Market PerformanceAs of 21:52 ET (01:52 GMT), Brent crude futures (December delivery) rose 0.5% to $65.67 per barrel, while &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":60920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,6827,49,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-commodities-news","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-market-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119473"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119474,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119473\/revisions\/119474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}