Saudi Oil Shipments Through Oman Ease Supply Fears
Oil prices fell sharply in early trade on Thursday, extending the previous day's losses as fears of Middle East supply disruptions eased. The drop was attributed to reports that Saudi Arabia would ship extra crude cargoes through Oman, reducing concerns over supply tightness.
Saudi Arabia is offering more loadings of oil via ship-to-ship transfers off Oman's Sohar port, people familiar with the matter said. This move blunts some of the hit to global supply from attacks on Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline to the Red Sea.
Oil prices had risen to about four-month highs earlier this week after shipping industry sources said crude loadings at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea export hub of Yanbu had been suspended and Riyadh had cancelled some cargo deliveries to European customers.
The suspension followed attacks on the East-West pipeline, which feeds the Saudi port of Yanbu. Prior to the war, Hormuz was the conduit for one-fifth of the world's oil supply.