Oil Prices Drop as Saudi Arabia Eases Supply Concerns with Additional Cargoes
Oil prices dropped by about 2% on Thursday to a one-week low, as reports of additional Saudi crude cargoes through Oman eased supply concerns. Brent crude futures fell $2.67, or 2.5%, to $103.13 a barrel at 12:03 p.m. ET (1603 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate futures declined $1.61, or 1.6%, to $100.82 a barrel.
The losses come after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright signaled that Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline could return to service within days. Saudi efforts to maintain shipments via additional loadings off Oman also eased supply worries. The country is offering more crude cargoes to Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers off Oman's Sohar port, offsetting some of the disruption caused by attacks on the East-West pipeline.
Oil prices had climbed to around four-month highs this week after shipping industry sources said crude loadings at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea export hub of Yanbu were suspended and Riyadh canceled some cargo deliveries to European customers. A prolonged closure of the pipeline could cut off as much as 4% of global oil supply.