After two sessions of gains and trading at their highest levels in three weeks, crude oil stabilized with some declines in mid-European trading today, Thursday, September 25, with some profit-taking after benefiting from a larger-than-expected decline in stocks and rising concerns about supply disruptions following recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian infrastructure, ignoring the agreement to resume exports from Iraqi Kurdistan. U.S. crude (NYMEX) fell by about 0.42% to trade at $62.72 a barrel, while Brent crude traded at $69.10 a barrel, up about 0.32%.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration report issued yesterday, Wednesday, showed a decline in stocks of 600,000 barrels in the past week ending September 19, compared to expectations of a decline of 300,000 barrels. In detail, gasoline stocks decreased by about 1.1 million barrels, while distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel, decreased by about 1.7 million barrels.

Eight oil companies signed an agreement on Wednesday with the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to resume oil exports of 230,000 barrels per day via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, which has been halted since March 2023.