Israel and Hamas agree on Gaza ceasefire and hostage return. The signing of the agreement is expected to take place at 9:00 a.m. GMT on Thursday. Oil prices barely changed on Thursday as investors assessed the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which could ease geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, and the stalemate in Ukraine talks.
Brent crude futures rose 2 cents to $66.27 a barrel at 6:29 a.m. GMT. WTI crude fell 1 cent to $62.54.
Trump said he had reached a long-awaited agreement on a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages as part of his plan to end the two-year war in the Palestinian territories.
Netanyahu said he would convene his government to ratify the ceasefire. The signing of the agreement is expected to take place at 09:00 GMT on Thursday.
The war in Gaza has supported oil prices as investors assess the potential risk to global supply if the conflict escalates into a wider regional conflict.
The Gaza ceasefire is unlikely to affect Middle East oil supplies, as OPEC+ fails to meet its increased production targets.
OPEC+ on Sunday agreed to a lower-than-market-expected November production increase, easing concerns about oversupply.
Prices rose nearly 1% on Wednesday to their highest level in a week, as investors viewed the stalled progress on the Ukraine peace deal as a sign that sanctions on Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, will remain in place for some time.
As long as the war in Ukraine continues, the geopolitical risk premium will remain high because Russia’s oil production remains high.
The EIA reported that US petroleum products were supplied at the highest level since December 2022. According to a report released Wednesday, US weekly oil supply rose to 21.990 million barrels per day last week, the highest level since December 2022.
Analysts said global oil demand was weaker in October, as numerous consumption indicators, including the number of containers arriving at the Port of Los Angeles, truck tolls in Germany, and container volume in China, pointed to a slowdown in activity.
They also noted that global oil demand in the first seven days of October averaged 105.9 million barrels per day, up 300,000 barrels from the same period last year, but 90,000 barrels lower than forecast.
Analysts also noted that the rate of increase in global crude oil and product inventories has slowed, with an 8 million barrel increase last week, the slowest increase in five weeks.