Saudi Arabia's Oil Pipeline Repair Boosts WTI Price Pressure
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price has pulled back below $100 per barrel after failing to sustain gains above that mark.
This comes as Saudi Arabia steps up efforts to restore oil flows, citing a plan to bypass the damaged section of the East-West pipeline and bring about half of its capacity back online within days.
The company aims to restore full operations in around six weeks, according to Bloomberg. This development is significant because the 1,200-kilometre route carries crude from eastern Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port of Yanbu and can transport up to 7 million barrels per day, providing an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.
The WTI price also faces pressure from the latest US inventory data, which showed that commercial crude inventories fell by 640,000 barrels in the week ending September 11, smaller than market expectations for a 1.6 million-barrel decline.