ع
Brent crude futures advanced to $101.53 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate crude traded near $90, according to the Emirates News Agency report on October 8, 2026. The gains followed a volatile session in which prices recovered from earlier dips below $99 as traders assessed supply risks against recovering shipment volumes. Market data reflected persistent security concerns in key export routes that have kept risk premiums in place throughout the month.
A CNBC TV18 assessment found that attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz have offset increases in tanker flows, with the UK Maritime Trade Operations logging at least nine such incidents in the waterway during October. Shell chief executive Wael Sawan stated that the world is running out of stopgap measures to cushion the impact, according to a Bloomberg report referenced in coverage of the market moves. West Asian oil flows have returned to about 80 percent of pre-conflict levels, yet global stockpiles continue to shrink amid the disruptions.
The International Energy Agency projected world oil supply to average 100.7 million barrels per day in 2026, down 5.7 million barrels per day from the prior year. A separate US Energy Information Administration outlook forecast Brent crude to average $105 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2026 as Middle East flows remain constrained. The US Energy Information Administration also estimated global petroleum production could fall to 101.1 million barrels per day in 2026 from a record 106.3 million barrels per day in 2025.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said crude pumped through the kingdom’s East-West Pipeline to the Red Sea export hub of Yanbu had reached 5.8 million barrels per day. Trade sources indicated roughly 12 million barrels per day of crude and 2 million barrels per day of refined products left the Middle East over the past seven to 10 days. OPEC+ has kept its November output targets unchanged, a Reuters report stated, even as Gulf members produce well below pre-conflict quotas.
OPEC cut its 2026 oil demand growth forecast by 200,000 barrels per day to 380,000 barrels per day, leaving total consumption at 105.84 million barrels per day, according to the producer group’s monthly assessment. The adjustment, the fifth consecutive monthly downgrade, was driven by weaker expectations for China and other parts of Asia-Pacific. OPEC raised its demand growth projection for 2027 by 200,000 barrels per day to 2.36 million barrels per day.
