Oil prices ease; markets assess US-Iran talks

Oil prices traded lower during Asian trading on Thursday, following gains in the previous session, as investors assessed the outcome of US-Iran peace talks and the outlook for crude exports from the Middle East.

By 3:05 pm AEST (5:05 am GMT), Brent crude futures had fallen $1.10, or 1.1%,to US$96.93 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $1.22, or 1.4%, at US$89.20 a barrel.

Brent and WTI futures gained 1.9% and 1.2%, respectively, in the previous session. Brent recorded an 8.3% monthly gain, while WTI rose 5.4% over the month.

ANZ analysts commented in a note to clients:

"Exports from the Persian Gulf have been rising strongly over the past week, with some estimates putting the flows nearing pre-conflict levels.

"With most shipowners turning their transponders off while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, measuring actual tanker transits is difficult. However, satellite tracking firm Kpler estimates that shipments reached 12.5mb/d in the week ending 27 September, just 1mb/d below the pre-war baseline.

"Saudi Arabia has also repaired the East-West pipeline and resumed exports from its Red Sea ports in recent days. That has seen its exports from the Yanbu port increase to 3.5mb/d so far in September."

Meanwhile, OPEC+ oil-producing countries are likely to keep their oil production targets unchanged for November when they meet on Sunday, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters.

Among economic data, US crude inventories increased by 922,000 barrels to 427.3 million barrels in the week ended September 25, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said. Analysts had expected inventories to decline by 300,000 barrels.