08:41 AM EDT, 09/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Oil edged higher early Thursday as the market focuses on supply risks with Ukraine continuing to attack Russian oil infrastructure, disrupting the country's exports.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil for October delivery was last seen up US$0.32 to $64.37 per barrel, while November Brent oil was up $0.31 to $68.26.

The rise comes as Ukraine continues drone attacks on Russian oil assets, with Bloomberg reporting overnight strikes on a petrochemical plant and Lukoil's Volgograd refinery, one of the country's largest, as it continues to focus on cutting fuel supply to Russia's military while curbing revenue from exports.

"In the past week alone, we have seen three refineries attacked, including Kirishi, one of the largest refineries in the country. Last week also saw the notable strike on Russia's northwestern port of Primorsk, the largest port in western Russia. These recent attacks highlight the fact that targets have increasingly skewed towards more valuable assets, possessing higher capacities and more disruptive potential for export," Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy and MENA research at RBC Capital Markets, wrote.

A steep drop in the U.S. oil inventories is also supporting prices. The Energy Information Administration Thursday said the U.S. commercial oil inventories fell by 9.3-million barrels last week, well above the consensus estimate among analysts polled by Reuters for a drop of 0.86 million barrels.