Oil prices fell Thursday morning, even as the continuing Strait of Hormuz disruption to global oil supply continued. The International Energy Agency (IEA) also announced on Wednesday that oil demand will decline by 1.6 million barrels this year.
West Texas Intermediate September crude oil futures, the US benchmark, fell 2.7% to $81.05 per barrel. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, fell 2.5% to $86.75 a barrel for October delivery.
The IEA calculated that combined inventories of crude and refined oil products fell 410 million barrels since the start of the war and currently stand at 7.9 billion barrels, BMO wrote in an Aug. 13 note.
However, "the world was (thankfully) operating with heavy excess supply before the start of the war, wrote senior economist Art Woo. The excess supply would continue to provide the world with "a decent buffer to ride out current disruptions in the Strait and in the Russian refinery space for several more months before things may really begin to bite," he added.
He cautioned that stocks of refined products like diesel and gasoline were not as robust as crude, and prices would continue to remain high.
Comex gold for December delivery was down 0.7% to $4,437.80 an ounce, after the Producer Price Index (PPI) was unchanged in July, seasonally adjusted, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. Final demand prices edged down 0.1% in June and rose 0.5% in May, a statement said.
In agricultural commodities, December wheat futures advanced 1% to $6.76 per bushel. November canola futures rose 0.5% to C$798.40 per tonne.