Oil falls on report of IEA proposing biggest oil release ever

Oil prices fell further on Wednesday, as reports of the International Energy Agency (IEA) proposing the largest release of oil reserves in its history due to potential supply disruptions from the US-Israeli conflict with Iran dragged on sentiment.

Brent futures traded down 88 cents, or 1 per cent, at $86.92 a barrel by 04:51 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 traded 35 cents lower, or 0.4pc, at $83.1 a barrel.

US crude prices leapt 5pc at the market open after both contracts plunged more than 11pc on Tuesday, the steepest percentage drop since 2022, a day after Trump predicted a quick end to the war.

On Monday, WTI surged to more than $119 a barrel, its highest since June 2022.

The IEA’s proposed drawdown would exceed the 182 million barrels of oil that IEA member countries put onto the market in two releases in 2022 when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the WSJ said, citing officials familiar with the matter.

A stockpile release of that size would offset 12 days of the investment bank’s estimated 15.4m barrel-per-day (bpd) Gulf exports disruption, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.

The US and Israel pounded Iran on Tuesday with what the Pentagon and Iranians on the ground called the most intense airstrikes of the war.

The US military also “eliminated” 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, the US Central Command said, as US President Donald Trump warned any mines laid in the Strait by Iran must be removed........

© Dawn Business