Brent stable above $90, WTI crude closes slightly lower

Oil drilling rigs

Brent crude held steady above the $90-mark at close today, Sept. 11, as investors assessed demand-supply outlook after Saudi Arabia and Russia decided to extended production cuts.

Brent crude futures for November delivery settled at $90.64 per barrel, after rising to $91.45 during the session.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for October delivery decreased by 0.25%, or 22 cents, to record $87.29 per barrel, after hitting $88.15 during the day.

The European Commission reduced its forecasts on the Eurozone economy, noting a growth of only 0.8% this year and 1.4% in 2024, compared to previous expectations of 1% and 1.7%, respectively. However, it strengthened its estimates for inflation to reach 3.2% in 2024, an increase of 0.1% from the previous estimate.

Europe expects a light maintenance season for refineries this fall as it looks to benefit from high profit margins, which may support demand for oil, while crude supplies may shrink due to storms and floods in eastern Libya, which led to the closure of four major export ports, Reuters reported.

The supply cuts have overshadowed ongoing concern about China's economic recovery, with Jim Ritterbusch, Head of Energy Research at Ritterbusch & Co., saying: "The decline in supply has helped offset the significant slowdown in global oil demand."

The national planning authority in South Sudan said that plans for the state-owned Nile Petroleum Co. to take control of the oil fields from foreign companies, whose contracts expire in 2027, cannot be realized due to a lack of funding and capabilities, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, France’s Minister of Energy Agnès Pannier-Runacher stated that there is an urgent need to get rid of fossil fuels, noting that if oil companies do not switch to renewable energy, they will not have a chance to survive in the coming years, Oil Price website reported.

The focus of global markets is on the monthly reports to be issued by the International Energy Agency and OPEC later this week.