Oil prices swing on Wednesday as US crude stocks fall more than expected and Washington offers heating oil loans

Brent crude futures rose 27 US cents, or 0.2%, to US$109.04 a barrel at 10:50am New York time on Wednesday 21 October (2:50pm GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 11 cents to US$97.72, Reuters reported. Both benchmarks had been up by as much as US$2 earlier in the session. Sharecast reported Brent down 0.3% at US$108.42 at the close of European trading, after it rose above US$110 earlier.

The US Energy Information Administration said crude inventories fell by 3.06 million barrels last week to 412.5 million barrels, according to Reuters, compared with an expected draw of 820,000 barrels in a Reuters poll. Distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, rose 1.68 million barrels.

The US Department of Energy said on Wednesday it was offering to loan up to nearly a third of the 1-million-barrel US emergency heating oil reserve, Reuters reported, as diesel prices have risen.

Reuters said investors weighed the Kremlin’s statement that President Vladimir Putin had agreed to resume US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine against the lack of US-Iran dialogue. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told state media the US could not expect dialogue while blockading and threatening Iran, according to Reuters. Kpler data showed at least 18 attacks on vessels in the past two weeks, Reuters said.

For Tuesday’s moves, see our earlier report.