Crude oil ends mixed as Russian supply concerns offset by upwardly revised U.S. GDP

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Crude futures closed little changed Thursday after rallying to the highest levels since July in the previous session, driven by concerns that Ukraine's attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure could disrupt supplies as well as a surprise decline in U.S. weekly crude inventories.

Oil prices enjoyed added support after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the country would introduce a partial ban on diesel exports [https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-plans-partially-ban-diesel-exports-until-end-2025-ifx-reports-2025-09-25/] until the year-end and extend an existing ban on gasoline exports.

"There's no doubt that right now that the Russian hits on their oil infrastructure by Ukraine means that really is Ground Zero," and if Europe carries out tougher sanctions on Russian oil and gas, it "could create a situation where we could start to see significant change in market psychology and a potential breakout to the upside," Price Futures Group's Phil Flynn said in a note.

Offsetting some gains, the Commerce Department reported U.S. gross domestic product increased at an upwardly revised 3.8% annualized rate last quarter, somewhat tempering optimism that the Federal Reserve would further reduce interest rates.

Also, the Kurdistan Regional Government announced the resumption of oil exports after a tripartite agreement among Iraq's oil ministry, the KRG ministry of natural resources and affected companies.

Front-month Nymex crude (CL1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CL1:COM]) for November delivery lost one cent to $64.98/bbl, while front-month Brent November crude finished +0.1% to $69.42/bbl, its highest settlement value since August 1, and U.S. natural gas (NG1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NG1:COM]) rose for the third straight session, with the front-month October contract closing +1.6% to $2.904/MMBtu.

ETFs: (NYSEARCA:USO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/USO]), (BNO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BNO]), (NYSEARCA:UCO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UCO]), (SCO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SCO]), (USL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/USL]), (DBO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DBO]), (DRIP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DRIP]), (GUSH [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GUSH]), (USOI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/USOI]), (UNG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UNG]), (BOIL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BOIL]), (KOLD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/KOLD]), (UNL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UNL]), (FCG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FCG]), (NYSEARCA:XLE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XLE])

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