Oil Prices Dip on Eased Middle East Supply Disruption Fears

Oil prices dipped on Thursday (Sept 17) as concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East eased, but remained above US$100 a barrel due to ongoing tensions in the region.

Brent crude futures dropped by US$1.88 or 1.8% to US$103.95 a barrel at 6:32am GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate futures fell by US$1.77 or 1.7% to US$100.66 a barrel.

According to Hiroyuki Kikukawa, chief strategist of Nissan Securities Investment, concerns over supply tightness eased slightly following news that Saudi Arabia would ship cargo via Oman, which reduced fears of supply disruptions.

However, some analysts were expecting these flows to only ease a portion of the supply loss from the kingdom's Red Sea port, capping the declines in oil prices.