Oil Prices Slip on Recovering Gulf Exports and Rising US Inventories

Oil prices dipped on Thursday as recovering Gulf exports and rising US inventories eased supply concerns. Brent crude futures fell 1.1% to $96.92 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 1.4% to $89.18 a barrel.

The price drop was attributed to the recovery of oil shipments from the Gulf region, with Saudi Arabia resuming oil tanker loadings from Yanbu after restarting operations on its East-West Pipeline.

US crude inventories also rose by 922,000 barrels to 427.3 million barrels in the week ended September 25, surpassing expectations for a 264,000-barrel draw.

Sugandha Sachdeva, founder of SS WealthStreet, noted that oil's near-term bias remains negative due to recovering shipments and rising inventories.