Oil Prices Decline on Recovering Middle East Exports

Oil prices declined on Tuesday as investors focused on signs of recovering crude exports from the Middle East and lingering concerns over potential supply disruptions in the region.

Brent crude futures were down $1.38, or 1.3%, to $103.88 a barrel at 1:03 p.m. ET (1703 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate crude was down $2.04 or 2.16% at $90.58.

The decline in prices came as Saudi Arabia resumed oil tanker loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting operations on the East-West Pipeline, according to trade sources and shipping data. This improved the outlook for oil exports from the Middle East.

Crude oil exports from key Middle East producers have also rebounded in September to 16.328 million barrels per day, the highest since the US-Israeli war on Iran started in late February, data from Kpler showed on Monday.