Oil fell more than 2% on Thursday after a six-day rally. Investors focused on the worsening outlook for global demand and a sharp increase in U.S. crude inventories. Brent fell by $1.91, or 2.15%, to $87.07 per barrel. WTI dropped by $2.02, or 2.4%, to $81.25. Earlier in the session, losses exceeded 3.5%.
Pressure on the market was intensified by data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration: commercial crude inventories for the week ending August 7 rose by 17.4 million barrels to 424.4 million barrels. This was the largest weekly increase since January 2023 and the highest inventory level since June 5. The rise was due in part to a decline in exports.
An additional negative factor was a deterioration in demand forecasts. OPEC cut its estimate for global oil consumption growth in 2026 to 580,000 barrels per day. The International Energy Agency, by contrast, expects demand to fall by 1.6 million barrels per day versus a previous forecast decline of 1 million barrels per day. According to the IEA, higher prices and supply disruptions due to the war between the U.S. and Iran will restrain consumption.