Crude oil closes: U.S. releases more strategic oil reserves rumors put pressure on crude oil hit a new low in more than two weeks

News on October 19, rumors about the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve releasing crude oil again, as well as persistent fears of a recession may slow energy demand, crude oil futures closed lower and hit the lowest settlement price
in more than two weeks.

West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery fell $2.
64, or 3.
1 percent, to $82.
82 a barrel, the lowest level
since Sept.
30, Dow Jones market data showed.
The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for ICE Futures Exchange for December, fell $1.
59, or 1.
7 percent, to $90.
03 a barrel, the lowest
since Oct.
3.

Back on the New York Mercantile Exchange, gasoline fell 1.
6 percent to $2.
5506 a gallon in November and heating oil fell 2.
2 percent to $
3.
9935 a gallon in November.
Natural gas prices fell 4.
2 percent to $5,745 per million British heat in November, down 7 percent
on Monday.

Bloomberg reports that the Biden administration is working to release an additional 10 million to 15 million barrels of oil from the SPR to prevent further increases
in gasoline prices.
The release will be the latest part of
a 180 million barrel release program that began earlier this year.

According to the Associated Press, multiple White House officials said Biden could order the release of another prisoner
as early as Wednesday.
The White House said Tuesday that President Biden will speak
Wednesday on gas prices.

Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, said the U.
S.
will make the move
after the U.
S.
lowered SPR inventories to its lowest level since 1982.

The Biden administration announced at the end of March that it would release 1 million barrels of oil per day from the SPR over the next six months, totaling more than 180 million barrels
.
Flynn said the company has released 165 million barrels of its 180 million barrels
of crude.

Flynn said in a daily report that OPEC could easily offset the release of another SPR if it saw fit, and there was likely an incentive to do so because the Biden administration does not have good
diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia or other OPEC members.
"

Crude oil prices have given up much of their gains in the first week of October, when OPEC+ (made up of OPEC and allies including Russia) agreed to cut production by 2 million barrels
per day starting in November.
With a number of oil producers already below target, the actual cut is expected to be about half that amount, but the move is still seen as significant, especially given OPEC's decision
to cut production despite the Biden administration's calls for an increase.

Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management, said in a recent report: "In the short term, the conflict between the US and OPEC+ will continue to heat up and highlight the political nature
of some potentially bearish oil catalysts.
" Given OPEC's current stance on production, the U.
S.
has every incentive to move forward with negotiations with Iran and Venezuela, especially ahead
of the U.
S.
midterm elections.
”

Patterson, head of commodity strategy at ING, noted in a note that strong gains in U.
S.
stocks and a weaker dollar failed to push oil prices
higher on Monday.
On the contrary, the market seems to remain cautious about the
market's demand outlook.
Fears of recessions elsewhere will only add to market uncertainty," he wrote
.

Meanwhile, the U.
S.
Energy Information Administration will release its weekly U.
S.
oil inventory report
on Wednesday morning.
On average, analysts surveyed by S&P Global Commodity Insights expect crude oil supplies to fall by 1.
2 million barrels, gasoline supplies by 2.
2 million barrels and distillate supplies by 2.
5 million barrels
.