WTI tumbles to near $87.50 as US inventories jump, geopolitical risks in focus

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $87.50 during the early Asian trading hours on Friday. WTI loses momentum amid growing US crude oil inventory.

US crude oil inventories showed a sharp build last week, feeding worries about oversupply. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), crude stockpiles climbed by 9 million barrels in the week ending November 5, compared to a fall of 5.267 barrels in the previous week. The market consensus was for a decline of 1 million barrels.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US should no longer seek a deal with Iran, per CNBC. “We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

His remarks came just over a week after Republicans suffered huge losses in the US midterm election. Vance and other Republicans have pinned those losses on the Iran war, which the US and Israel started in late February. Trump’s comments stoked worries that an end to the US-Iran war was not in sight.

Attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure escalated, and shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz threatened global oil flows.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said that they had attacked a pumping station on the Saudi East-West oil pipeline, an oil facility in the Saudi Red Sea city of Yanbu, and an Aramco building in the capital, Riyadh.

Meanwhile, Iran's military said on Thursday that four oil tankers were hit by explosions in the Strait of Hormuz after ignoring warnings.

Brent finds support as Strait of Hormuz tensions flare

Analysts at Commerzbank Research report that "tensions in the Strait of Hormuz escalated overnight," with Iran’s IRGC Navy claiming that "two additional oil tankers struck mines while attempting to transit the waterway, with both vessels reportedly on fire." Against this backdrop, Commerzbank notes that "Brent crude rose 1.2% to USD92.63, as the latest Hormuz mine incidents provided a floor to prices despite the broader November slide of approximately 17%."

Technical Analysis: WTI keeps a consolidation mode in the near term

In the daily chart, the near-term tone of WTI US Oil appears neutral to range-bound as price holds just above the 100-day simple moving average (SMA) while remaining well below the Bollinger Bands’ 20-day SMA center line, which caps the topside. The lower Bollinger band at $82.30 underpins the broader consolidation, and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 40.6 sits below the 50 mark, hinting at mild bearish momentum but not a decisive trend break.

On the topside, initial resistance is located at the Bollinger 20-day SMA center band near $94.60, with a stronger barrier at the upper Bollinger band at $106.85. On the downside, immediate support is seen at the 100-day SMA at $87.00, ahead of a more important structural floor at the lower Bollinger band near $82.30, where buyers would likely attempt to defend the broader uptrend from deeper correction.