Saudi Arabia's Ship-to-Ship Crude Transfers Ease Oil Price Worries

Oil prices continued their downward trend on Thursday as Saudi Arabia took measures to offset the impact of a key pipeline closure. The kingdom's decision to reroute some crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz has eased concerns about another major disruption to global supplies.

Brent futures, the international benchmark, fell 2.6% to $103.05 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude briefly dipped below $100 before settling at $100.55, a decline of 1.8%. US crude oil has erased most of its gains for the week but remains up 17% for the month.

The pipeline outage had raised fears about a potential shortage in global supplies, but Saudi Arabia's efforts to reroute exports have helped mitigate these concerns.