Oil price drops more than $3 on talks over diesel, crude stock releases

By Anushree Mukherjee

LONDON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than $3 and European gasoil futures dropped over 4% on Friday after reports of talks in Europe on additional diesel and crude stock releases, easing concerns over tight global energy supplies.

 Brent was down $3.06, or 3%, at $99.25 a barrel at 1409 GMT. West Texas Intermediate dropped $3.95, or 4.25%, to $88.92 a barrel. 

Both benchmark contracts were poised for a weekly decline, with Brent down about 4.7% so far for the week and WTI around 3.7% lower.

European gasoil futures, a benchmark for diesel prices, fell about 4.3% to $1,386.75 a metric ton.

"The whole energy complex trades lower, led by gasoil and ULSD, as EU countries discuss releasing fuel and crude stockpiles to ease acute market tightness and help avert a potential US diesel export ban," Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said. 

FRENCH PROPOSAL

European Union countries on Friday discussed a French proposal to release additional diesel stockpiles in response to US pressure on European nations to unleash more supplies, a source familiar with details of the discussion told Reuters on Friday.

In a call on Friday, EU countries' governments discussed a French proposal for European countries to release 50 million barrels of diesel, and for International Energy Agency members to release 50 million barrels of crude oil, the source said.

"This highlights that the main stress in the energy market is no longer crude availability, with Middle East flows recovering, but rather refined product supply, constrained by reduced refinery capacity and output across the Middle East and Russia," Hansen said. 

Prices settled higher in the previous session after Reuters reported that Chinese refiners had suspended oil product exports for October as Beijing looked to preserve domestic stocks.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US was sending a third aircraft carrier and up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East as President Donald Trump weighed resuming strikes on Iran after the US midterm elections.

Hamad Hussain, senior climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics said another release of oil stocks "could be enough to help tip the overall market back into a slight surplus if the recent pick-up in flows from the Middle East is sustained". 

"The gradual recovery in oil flows through the Middle East Gulf (including pipeline bypass) has picked up pace of late," Barclays said in a note.

However, the bank said physical market fundamentals remained strong, with inventories continuing to be drawn, and prompt cargoes commanding steep premiums over forward prices.

The bank raised its fourth-quarter Brent forecast by $20 a barrel to $115 and lifted its 2026 forecast to $100 a barrel.

Elsewhere, Ukraine has struck oil facilities in Russia's Samara and Volgograd regions over the past 24 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on social media on Friday.

(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in London,Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore; Additional reporting by Helen Clark in Perth; Editing by Alison Williams, Philippa Fletcher, Jan Harvey and Louise Heavens)