Oil Rises As Trump Expected To Act On Russian Trespass Of Polish Air Space

Meanwhile, large U.S. stockpile growth stokes bearish sentiment: File Image/Pixabay

As of 1528 GMT on Wednesday, oil trading patterns were identical to that of the previous session, with Israel's attack on Hamas leadership in Qatar prompting another round of gains for two key benchmarks, but the gains capped by overriding concerns of global oversupply.

Exacerbating geopolitical tensions as well as supporting crude was Poland reporting that it had shot down drones during an attack on western Ukraine by Russia.

Brent was up 99 cents at $67.37 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate rose 98 cents to $63.60 per barrel.

Early in the session, the benchmarks experienced a spike when U.S. president Donald Trump criticized Russia's incursion into Polish air space, and causing Rebecca Babin, senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group, to remark, "The read-through is that Trump–Putin relations are deteriorating rather than improving, which raises the odds of some kind of response."

Supply concerns were stoked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which on Wednesday reported that crude inventories rose by 3.9 million barrels in the week to Sept 5, compared to expectations for a 1 million barrel draw; gasoline stocks rose by 1.5 million during the same time frame, compared with expectations for a 1 million barrel draw.

John Kilduff, founding partner at Again Capital, said, "So now we are waiting to see how much gasoline demand will fall off a cliff after the U.S. driving season, and it looks like it will be substantial."

Bloomberg summarized Wednesday's trading by pointing out that, "U.S. oil has been stuck between $62 and $67 for more than a month now, with expectations of a glut toward the end of 2025 hanging over the market...still, the unrest from Poland to Qatar has reignited concerns about an escalation of hostilities, which has revived a geopolitical risk premium in crude prices."