Drone Strike on Saudi Pipeline Sparks Oil Price Surge
Saudi Arabia's key East-West Pipeline has been shut down after a drone strike on Friday. The pipeline, which can transport up to 7 million barrels of crude per day, was taken offline and repair work is expected to keep it fully or partially shut for several weeks.
The shutdown has sent global oil prices surging again, with Brent crude climbing above $105 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate crossing the $101 mark. November-delivery Brent crude futures closed up 1.02 percent at $105.68 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange, while October-delivery WTI futures settled 1.34 percent higher at $101.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The prices soared nearly 5 percent during trading before paring gains after US President Donald Trump signaled the possibility of negotiations with Iran, saying 'Iran wants to make a deal quickly, and desperately.'