- Oil up 1% after Trump says India to stop Russian imports.
- Brent at $62.48, WTI $58.81; Russia supplies 1/3 of India's oil.
- U.S. stocks rose; EIA data awaited amid surplus fears.
Oil prices crept up by nearly 1% in the early Asian session after U.S. President Donald Trump alleged that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him of stopping oil purchases from Russia, India being the top supplier of around one-third of its imports. Brent crude futures elevated 0.57 dollars, or 0.9%, to $62.48 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 0.9%, or 54 cents, to $58.81.
Trump's remarks on Wednesday were part of the story of the escalating U.S. measures to limit the energy revenues to Moscow and thus force Russia to the negotiating table for the Ukraine conflict. After Russia, the next target in line is China. India and China are the largest customers of Russian seaborne crude exports, which are subject to U.S. and EU sanctions. Modi had earlier rejected the U.S. pressure by saying that the country needed energy security during the time of cheap Russian barrels.
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Tony Sycamore, IG market analyst, commented, "This gets rid of one of the major buyers of Russian oil, thus having a positive impact on prices at the margin." Prices had come down to their 2022 lows in the previous session because of the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China and the International Energy Agency's warnings of a surplus in 2026 as OPEC+ and other producers increase output amid weak demand.
Investors were looking forward to the weekly U.S. inventory data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to be released on Thursday after the contradictory American Petroleum Institute (API) figures. It is said that crude stocks went up by 7.36 million barrels for the week ending October 10, gasoline was up 2.99 million barrels, but distillates were down 4.79 million barrels. Analysts expect only a slight 0.3 million-barrel crude build.