Oil prices fall as IEA moves to accelerate strategic reserve release; WTI drops 1.3%

Oil prices fell Wednesday (local time) after the International Energy Agency said it would accelerate the release of strategic petroleum reserves.

Brent crude for December delivery settled at $100.20 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange, down 38 cents (0.38%) from the previous session. West Texas Intermediate for November delivery closed at $88.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $1.16 (1.3%).

Analysts attributed the decline to the IEA's announcement that it would proceed with the reserve release as quickly as possible.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement that member governments had expressed support for accelerating the reserve release agreed upon in March and completing it as soon as possible. He added that member countries had also agreed to prioritize the release of diesel fuel.

Birol said 325 million barrels of the 400 million barrels that member countries agreed to release in March, early in the Iran war, had already reached the market, with some members releasing more than their pledged amounts. The IEA said more than 100 million additional barrels would be supplied to the market once all remaining members fulfilled their commitments.

However, the price decline was limited, as US crude inventories fell unexpectedly and concerns persisted over potential production disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico caused by a hurricane.