Demand Wanes as International Oil Prices Plunge

Due to the concern of "oversupply" completely taking the lead, international oil prices fell across the board overnight.

International crude oil futures prices fell by more than 2% in the overnight market: WTI November crude oil futures settled down by $1.73, a decrease of 2.29%, at $73.83 per barrel. Brent December crude oil futures closed down by $1.58, a decrease of 2%, at $77.46 per barrel. After the opening on the 15th, the oil price continued to fall from the early morning, with the latest WTI oil price reported at $71.72 per barrel.

The main reason is that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has lowered the world's oil demand growth expectation for this year and next year for the third consecutive month, and Israel is said to avoid striking Iran's energy and nuclear facilities, making oversupply completely become the market's "main melody".

On Monday (October 14th) local time, OPEC released its monthly oil market report on its official website. The organization expects the global oil demand to be 104.1 million barrels per day in 2024, which was 104.2 million barrels per day last month, a decrease of 106,000 barrels. OPEC explained that this revision is "mainly due to the actual data received and slightly lower expectations in some regions".

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OPEC also lowered the global oil demand for 2025 from 106 million barrels per day to 105.8 million barrels per day in the report, which means that the growth rate from 2024 to 2025 has been reduced from 1.7 million barrels per day to 1.6 million barrels per day, indicating that the organization is retreating from its previously strong bullish stance.

Spartan Capital analyst Peter Cardillo said in a report that the decline in demand is worrying and indicates that oil prices will fall in the future.

At the same time, according to two informed officials, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a call that he plans to strike Iran's military facilities, not oil or nuclear facilities, implying that Israel will take a more limited counterattack to prevent a full-scale "war".

The informed official said that Israel has adjusted its retaliation to avoid giving the impression of "political intervention in the US election". This indicates that Netanyahu understands that the scope of Israel's attack could reshape the presidential election landscape.

Schneider Electric's global commodity analyst Robbie Fraser said that although geopolitical risks have pushed oil prices above $70 per barrel, concerns about demand continue to limit further increases in oil prices.

Phil Flynn, a senior market analyst at the US Price Futures Group, commented that oil traders had previously been preparing for an Israeli attack on Iran. Since this did not happen, oil prices have therefore corrected.

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