On Wednesday, oil prices rose, recovering some of the losses from the previous day. This increase was driven by fears that Hurricane Francine could interrupt production in the United States, the top oil producer globally, overshadowing concerns about sluggish global demand.

On Tuesday, both oil benchmarks dropped by nearly $3, with Brent reaching its lowest point since December 2021 and WTI falling to its lowest level since May 2023. This decline followed OPEC+’s reduction of its demand forecast for this year and 2025.

 On Tuesday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) revised its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 down to 2.03 million barrels per day (bpd) from last month’s estimate of 2.11 million bpd, according to its monthly report. OPEC also lowered its 2025 global demand growth projection to 1.74 million bpd from 1.78 million bpd. However, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that global oil demand is expected to reach a higher record this year, although output growth will be less than previously predicted.

Oil prices were bolstered by a reduction in U.S. crude inventories. According to market sources referencing American Petroleum Institute data, U.S. crude oil stocks decreased by 2.793 million barrels for the week ending September 6, and gasoline inventories dropped by 513,000 barrels.

According to customs data and Reuters, China’s daily crude oil imports reached their highest level in a year last month. However, this figure was still 7% lower compared to the same period last year, and year-to-date imports are down by 3% compared to the previous year.