Oil breaches $100 mark as shipping attacks trigger supply shock fears

If Chinese buying continues to recover, it could amplify the impact of any supply disruptions and drive prices higher, while a pullback in imports could temper market gains, ING said.

"For months the bearish case rested on soft Chinese demand," said David Jorbenaze, global oil market lead at commodities information provider ICIS.

US crude oil inventories fell by 391,000 barrels to 424.1 million barrels last week as refining activity continues to show strength, the Energy Information Administration said. Analysts had expected a 1.55-million-barrel draw.

OPEC lowered its forecast on Thursday for world oil demand growth in 2026 to 380,000 barrels per day, a copy of its monthly report showed, marking the fifth straight downward revision.

OPEC oil output fell by 640,000 bpd in August, a Reuters survey found, as Saudi exports faced new disruptions due to the war in Iran and a US blockade cut Iran's shipments.

(Reporting by Nicole Jao in New York, Robert Harvey in London, Sethuraman NR in New Delhi; editing by Mark Potter, Jason Neely, David Gregorio, Rod Nickel)