It’s about what price the Saudis want.
No telling what they are thinking, but the demand for their output remains high at about 10 million bpd.
Note that WTI supply tightened, indicating the Seaway pipeline is working down the oversupply in Cushing.
And refiners are coming back online after the storm shutdowns:
“While total U.S. crude stockpiles gained, inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the West Texas contract traded on Nymex, declined for a second week by 274,000 barrels to 43.8 million, the lowest level since April. Stockpiles of gasoline and of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, declined. Refinery operating rates rose to 88.9 percent from the previous week’s 84.7 percent as plants resumed units idled when Hurricane Isaac made landfall on Aug. 28.”