IEA stockpile warning and deeper crude draw add fuel to Wednesday’s oil rally
Brent settled up 1.9% at $97.81 and WTI gained 2.4% to $96.02 as Iran struck Kuwait and Bahrain, US-Iran talks stalled, and crude inventories fell twice the expected amount.
Earlier:
Summary:
- Brent settled at $97.81, up 1.89%, and WTI at $96.02, up 2.41%, on the session
- Iran launched ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain, killing one person and injuring dozens; US forces struck Iran's Qeshm Island
- Iran's foreign minister said contacts with Washington remain open but no negotiating progress has been made and no formal negotiating channel is established
- US crude inventories fell 8 million barrels to 433.7 million barrels in the week to May 29, double the expected 4 million barrel draw
- The IEA warned global oil stockpiles could reach critically low levels ahead of peak summer demand if draws continue at their current pace
- Weekly US crude production edged down to 13.707 million barrels per day; distillate and gasoline inventories posted larger-than-expected builds
Oil prices rose around 2% on Wednesday as fresh Iranian missile strikes on neighbouring Gulf states, deepening scepticism about US-Iran talks, and a sharply larger-than-expected draw in American crude inventories combined to push both benchmarks toward their session highs.
Brent futures settled at $97.81 a barrel, a gain of $1.81 or 1.89% on the day. WTI crude climbed $2.26, or 2.41%, to $96.02. Both contracts extended gains from Tuesday, maintaining the upward trajectory that has characterised trading since the conflict entered its fourth month.
The session's clearest escalation came when Iran launched ballistic missiles at Kuwait and Bahrain, killing one person and injuring dozens according to Kuwaiti authorities. US forces responded with strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island. An IRGC spokesperson claimed that damage to Kuwait's airport was caused by an American Patriot interceptor rather than the Iranian missile itself, a claim Kuwait did not immediately confirm.
Diplomatic signals were contradictory and ultimately unconvincing to markets. Iran's foreign minister, speaking to Lebanese media, said contacts with Washington remain open and that both sides are studying texts that were exchanged. He was also explicit that no formal negotiating channel exists and that no progress has been made. Separately, an Iranian news agency reported that exchanges through intermediaries had been suspended pending Iranian conditions on Lebanon. Trump, in a podcast interview, said Iran had agreed not to pursue a nuclear weapon and that Supreme Leader Khamenei was engaged in the process. Benchmarks pulled back briefly on the Trump remarks before recovering.
The weekly inventory figures reinforced the bullish case on fundamentals. US crude stockpiles fell 8 million barrels in the week to May 29, reaching 433.7 million barrels, against analyst expectations of a 4 million barrel draw. Both commercial and strategic reserves contributed to the decline. The IEA added to the pressure, warning that global inventories could reach critical functional lows ahead of peak summer demand if the current pace of draws continues, a scenario that aligns with the tipping-point framing analysts have been applying to the Hormuz closure throughout recent weeks.
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Wednesday's session crystallised the dominant market dynamic: escalation headlines move prices up sharply, diplomatic noises soften them briefly, and the floor keeps rising. The double miss on the EIA draw, 8 million barrels against a 4 million consensus, is a structural signal layered under the geopolitical noise. With the IEA now warning of critically low stockpiles ahead of peak summer demand, the inventory buffer that has capped the upside is thinning faster than the market had assumed. Brent holding above $97 after a session that included both a missile strike on Kuwait's airport and a Trump claim of progress on a deal suggests the risk premium is becoming structural rather than episodic.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.提供 MainLink：Investinglive RSS Breaking News Feed
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