WTI November crude settles down 1.80% at $101.79/bbl

The split between the front-month slide and Murban's gain suggests this is less a demand story than a curve and grade story: November gave back an intraday spike while December held a much smaller loss, and the Abu Dhabi marker moved the other way entirely. That divergence is the signal worth tracking, since a flattening or steepening WTI curve alongside firm Asian sour grades would say more about positioning and regional barrels than about headline crude direction. Whether the front-month weakness persists into the next settlement, and whether Murban's premium holds, is the open question.