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Oil prices dip on US inventory climb, says ING.

17.10.2025 11:59

Global oil markets are experiencing a period of significant downward pressure, with prices on track for their third consecutive weekly decline. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmarks, for instance, plummeted to their lowest levels since May earlier this morning, primarily driven by an uninspiring report on U.S. oil inventories. Adding another layer of complexity to the market sentiment, reports surfacing from various internet sources indicate an upcoming meeting between President Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. This potential dialogue, aimed at de-escalating the conflict in Ukraine, has partially alleviated concerns regarding potential damage to Russia's critical energy infrastructure, as noted by commodity specialists Ewa Manthey and Warren Patterson from ING.

The latest figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reveal that U.S. crude oil stockpiles have swelled for a third successive week, recording an increase of 3.5 million barrels over the past seven days. This expansion is attributed to a combination of heightened domestic production and a noticeable dip in refinery capacity utilization compared to the preceding week. Interestingly, this EIA increase was considerably lower than the 7.36 million barrel surge reported just one day prior by the American Petroleum Institute (API). Overall, total oil stocks now stand at 423.8 million barrels—a peak not observed since early September—though still remaining 4% below the five-year average. In contrast, crude inventories at Cushing continued their three-week downward trend, decreasing by 703,000 barrels to reach 22 million barrels, marking their lowest point since mid-July. Concurrently, crude imports saw an 878,000 barrel per day reduction, settling at 5.5 million b/d, while exports experienced a parallel rise of 876,000 b/d, reaching 4.5 million b/d.

Turning to refined products, gasoline inventories experienced a modest reduction of 267,000 barrels, marginally surpassing the market's average forecast for a draw of only 111,400 barrels. More notably, distillate stocks witnessed a substantial decline of 4.5 million barrels, significantly outpacing the market's expectation of a mere 212,800-barrel fall. Furthermore, refinery utilization rates decreased by 6.7 percentage points week-over-week, settling at 85.7% during the reporting period. Internationally, Singapore's refined product inventories escalated considerably, jumping by 3.14 million barrels week-over-week to 48.4 million barrels for the week ending October 15, 2025—a level not seen since September 17. This robust growth was largely propelled by increases in light distillates and residuals, which rose by 2.1 million barrels and 1.4 million barrels to reach 13.6 million and 25.1 million barrels respectively.