Oil Prices Fall as Saudi Pipeline Flows Rebound and Iran War Lingers
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 stemming from the US-Israeli war on Iran.
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.
Crude futures were 'under pressure this morning on news that the Saudi's East/West pipeline flows have moved up' said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial.
Saudi Arabia resumed oil tanker loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting operations on the East-West Pipeline, improving 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.
The White House has urged the European Union to draw down diesel emergency inventories in a bid to lower global prices, sources said.