Middle East Oil Exports Rebound, Sending Oil Prices Tumbling
Oil prices plummeted by over 2% on Tuesday as investors took note of recovering crude exports from the Middle East. Brent crude futures dropped $2.69 or 2.6% to $102.59 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost $3.22 or 3.5% to $89.38 per barrel.
The decline in prices was attributed to an increase in Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline flows, which improved the outlook for Middle Eastern oil exports. The country also resumed tanker loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting the pipeline, trade sources and shipping data showed.
Crude oil exports from Middle East producers rebounded in September to 16.328 million barrels per day, the highest since the US-Israeli war on Iran started in late February, according to data from Kpler.