Highlights
December crude oil made a 4-week low Tuesday after Israel's weekend retaliatory strike was very limited and raised hopes that the direct attacks between Iran and Israel were over for the time being. Iran said on Monday its oil industry was operating normally despite the weekend strike by Israel. The risk premium in oil prices was further reduced Monday when Israel said it was open to a short truce in Gaza in return for the release of a small number of hostages.
Some bullish crude oil news Monday was Vortexa reported that crude oil stored on tankers that have been stationary for at least seven days fell by -18% for the week to 55.49 million barrels.
Bloomberg reported Tuesday that China's oil demand in September was down 6.98% from a year ago to 14.176 million bpd and total Chinese oil demand this year through September was down 3.8% from a year ago to 13.99 million bpd.
Just when it looked like crude oil would be in an extended down trend, yesterday's global economic news was bullish for energy.