WTI rises about 1% toward $99 on supply concerns
Key Facts
West Texas Intermediate crude rose about 1% on Wednesday morning, October 21, 2026, approaching $99.00 a barrel, according to FXStreet, amid concerns over oil supplies from the Gulf. The gains came after prices reversed losses recorded earlier in the session, putting U.S. crude on an upward path during Wednesday's trading. The website said crude "resumes its uptrend and rises about 1% on Wednesday" as it approached that level. The supply concerns coincided with the Houthis claiming responsibility for attacks targeting Saudi oil facilities, according to Reuters. Wednesday's trading also followed the expiry of the November WTI contract on Tuesday, the news agency reported.
The Houthi announcement, reported by Reuters, included attacks on a Saudi Aramco site in Yanbu on the Red Sea and the Shaybah oilfield. The agency attributed the details of the targeting to the group, which claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Saudi site and oilfield. Yanbu is linked to a route carrying Saudi crude to the Red Sea, with Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline extending to the city, according to the Associated Press. The pipeline allows crude output to be transported from Gulf ports to the port of Yanbu, providing another outlet for Saudi oil exports via the Red Sea. The sites the Houthis said they targeted thus include a facility in a city served by this alternative crude transport and export route, as well as the oilfield.
The developments come as some crude production in the Middle East remains offline, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's estimates for September. The agency estimated average production outages during the month at 4.8 million barrels a day, down from the level recorded in August. Outages averaged 5.8 million barrels a day in August before declining the following month, according to the same estimates. On prices, the average Brent spot price rose to $114 a barrel in September, according to the agency's global oil market report. That represented an increase of $23 a barrel from the August average, as production outages continued despite easing from the previous month.
The conflict's effects extend to the cost of delivering crude to refineries, with the EIA saying higher insurance costs are pushing up shipping costs. That pressure is also feeding into prices for crude delivered to refineries, according to the agency, adding to the cost of oil upon arrival at its destination. Ships are taking longer routes to avoid conflict zones, a shift in oil transport routes that the agency links to constraints on tanker movements. It says longer voyages reduce the number of available tankers, alongside pressures from higher cargo insurance costs. Faced with route constraints, the agency lists ship-to-ship oil transfers among the alternatives helping sustain oil exports from the Middle East.
Wednesday's moves followed mixed trading in the crude benchmarks, with Investing.com reporting that Brent futures fell to $108.66 a barrel during Tuesday's session. Brent was down 0.8% in that trading after ending Monday's session at a higher level, according to prices reported by the website and Reuters. Brent futures closed on Monday, October 19, at $109.55 a barrel, according to Reuters' report on the session's settlement. Brent fell 31 cents a barrel at that settlement, while U.S. crude rose during the same Monday session. WTI rose $2.25 to $103.66 a barrel in that session, according to Reuters, before the November contract expired on Tuesday.
In its outlook, the EIA forecasts an average Brent spot price of $105 a barrel in the fourth quarter of 2026. The agency's projected quarterly average is below the September average, which rose from August as production and transport disruptions continued. On the U.S. release calendar, the regular weekly Petroleum Status Report is due on Wednesday, according to the agency's published release schedule. The agency publishes the report at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time as part of its regular weekly oil data schedule. The next edition of the Short-Term Energy Outlook, which includes its estimates for the oil market and prices, is scheduled for November 10, 2026.