Crude oil prices fell by more than 4% in midday trading on Thursday, January 15, ending a five-session winning streak. This decline followed comments from US President Donald Trump, who eased market concerns about Iranian oil supplies, and the largest increase in US crude oil inventories since November. US crude (WTI) fell by approximately 4.21%, trading at $59.42 per barrel, while Brent crude traded at $63.83 per barrel, down about 4.07%.

In his remarks, Donald Trump indicated that he had received assurances that Iran would cease its attacks on protesters, leading to a decrease in market expectations of military action against Tehran and the continued flow of oil from OPEC’s third-largest producer.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s report released Wednesday showed that inventories rose by 3.4 million barrels in the week ending January 9, while expectations were for a decrease of 1.4 million barrels. Specifically, gasoline inventories rose by about 9 million barrels, while distillate inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, remained unchanged.