Brent slips to $88.87 as huge US stock build outweighs Hormuz risk

Brent futures fell 11 cents, or 0.12%, to $88.87 a barrel, snapping six consecutive sessions of gains, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 16 cents, or 0.19%, to $83.11 after five straight days higher. Both benchmarks had been climbing on fears that the Strait of Hormuz, a key Middle East shipping corridor, could stay disrupted. Thursday's pullback shows that demand-side data is now doing more to move prices than the geopolitical risk premium that built up over the past week.

The trigger was a data release from the US Energy Information Administration showing commercial crude stocks rose by 17.4 million barrels to 424.4 million for the week ending 8 August, the largest weekly build since January 2023 and the highest inventory level since 5 June. That compares with a Reuters poll that had expected a 1.4-million-barrel draw. On the same day, OPEC cut its 2026 global demand growth forecast to 580,000 barrels per day, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) widened its projected 2026 consumption decline to 1.6 million barrels per day, up from last month's 1 million barrels per day estimate, citing higher prices and constrained supply linked to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

The chart below tracks Brent over recent months, giving buyers a visual anchor for how far this pullback sits within the broader run-up.

What this means for UK buyers

Oil has an indirect but real pull on UK commercial energy costs: it shapes shipping and logistics costs, sets a floor under some LNG contracts, and moves sentiment across the wider energy complex, including gas and power forward curves. Finance directors and procurement leads renewing fixed contracts over the coming weeks should treat this as a two-sided market rather than a one-way risk. Iran talks staying stalled keeps a price floor in place, even as demand-side data pulls the other way.

• Strait of Hormuz negotiations: no progress reported as of Wednesday
• EIA crude stock build: 17.4 million barrels, largest since January 2023
• OPEC 2026 demand growth forecast: cut to 580,000 barrels per day
• IEA 2026 consumption decline: widened to 1.6 million barrels per day
• Vessel signal disabling in contested waters, reducing shipping transparency

Antonio Di Giacomo, senior market analyst at XS.com, said buyers remain dominant in the short term but warned that 'the pace of the rise may also lead to periods of volatility and profit-taking at current levels'. He added that WTI is particularly sensitive to geopolitical shifts and fresh economic and energy data given the current standoff between supply risk and weakening demand signals. Analysts at Haitong Futures separately flagged that vessels disabling tracking signals in contested waters is 'diminishing transparency in shipping', making it harder for the market to verify real supply levels.

Watch the next Iran-US talks readout and the following EIA inventory release for direction. A confirmed thaw in Hormuz tensions would likely accelerate the pullback in Brent; a second large stock build would reinforce the demand-led narrative and pressure prices further.