WTI Crude Oil Prices

WTI crude oil prices averaged USD 64.86 per barrel in August, down 5.1% from July. On 29 August, the commodity traded at USD 64.36 per barrel, down 8.5% from 31 July.

WTI prices fell more sharply than Brent’s in August. This partly reflects the move in recent years to trading Brent, a global seaborne market. It also reflects how U.S. oil inventories unexpectedly rose by 3.2 million barrels in July–August; the market had penciled in a 13.9 million barrel drop, in line with the seasonal uptick in demand for gasoline and jet fuel due to summer travel. This unexpected build stemmed from record U.S. production, plus curtailed travel plans due to rising economic uncertainty.