Oil prices inched higher in early Asian trading on January 2, the first trading session of 2026, as geopolitical tensions continued to provide support after the major benchmarks posted their steepest annual losses since 2020. At the time of writing, Brent crude was up 0.30% at $61.03 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate had climbed 0.30% to $57.59 per barrel.
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), decreased by 1.9 million barrels from the week ending December 19 to the week ending December 26, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) highlighted in its latest weekly petroleum status report.
Curious Minds Corner
Why do oil prices react so fast to geopolitical events?
Because oil is traded globally and even small disruptions or risks to supply can immediately affect futures markets and pricing expectations.