WTI closes at $88.56; Brent rises two cents on Nov. 13
Key Facts
West Texas Intermediate closed at $88.56 a barrel on Nov. 13, down from the previous session’s close of $88.74, according to EL7 data. Brent, meanwhile, ended the session at $95.84 a barrel, up two cents, or 0.02%, according to Reuters in a report published by MarketScreener. The benchmarks’ limited moves came at the end of a week in which prices were headed for losses of about 2.5% each. Reuters said that would mark a second consecutive weekly loss. Prices had fallen 16% for Brent and 13% for WTI in the previous week, placing Friday’s move within a broader decline beyond the daily change.
The Associated Press said prices fluctuated after U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier in the week that the United States did not need a deal with Iran. The agency quoted him as saying, "We don't need a deal with Iran," adding that "those days are long gone." In a Thursday post, Trump also said the United States had "their strait," referring to the Strait of Hormuz, according to another AP report. Those remarks came before the Nov. 13 session and were not made by Trump on the day of the close. Shipping risks remained in the market’s background: Reuters reported attacks on tankers and Saudi facilities during the week, while the AP said international tankers had come to rely on U.S. Navy escorts despite a recovery in shipments through the strait to levels close to those before the war.
Supply data presented a different picture from daily price movements: Global oil supply rose by 2.3 million barrels a day in October to 105.4 million barrels a day, with Gulf exports increasing, according to the International Energy Agency. The agency also said crude oil exports from the Gulf region reached 82% of pre-war levels in October. In inventory data, it recorded a 52 million barrel increase in observed oil stocks during the month, the first since June. The agency attributed the increase to Gulf exports recovering faster than global demand growth. Oil in transit by sea rose by 86 million barrels to its highest level since January, according to its monthly report. But the agency said onshore inventories remained at their lowest levels since at least 2016, leaving a mixed supply picture of recovering flows and low onshore stocks.
In the United States, commercial crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 4.7 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 6 to 414.4 million barrels, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Even so, inventories remained 13.2 million barrels below their level a year earlier. The figures provide a weekly gauge of crude availability in the world’s largest consuming economy, alongside the global supply indicators tracked by the IEA. On demand expectations, the agency cut its forecast for global demand in 2026 by 2.7 million barrels a day to 102.3 million barrels a day. It expects demand to rebound by 2 million barrels a day in 2027, while the annual decline in demand is expected to narrow in the fourth quarter of 2026 to 2.7 million barrels a day, compared with an average of 4.4 million barrels a day in the second and third quarters.
Dated North Sea crude prices fell 32% from a peak of $136 a barrel in early October to $93 at the time the IEA report was prepared. The agency raised its estimate for global oil supply in the fourth quarter of 2026 by 3.3 million barrels a day after Gulf exports recovered. It expects the global oil market to return to a surplus in the fourth quarter, with a larger buildup in 2027. But it said attacks on shipping threaten the market’s recovery. Its outlook for the coming months combines higher-than-expected supply and weak demand in 2026 with continued risks of shipping disruption, while it expects demand to rebound in 2027.