Saudi Supply Disruptions Ease, Oil Prices Decline for Third Straight Session
Oil prices declined for a third consecutive session on Friday as concerns over Saudi Arabia's supply disruptions eased. The Brent crude futures fell by $2.14, or 2%, to $102.68 a barrel by 0806 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate futures dropped $1.83, or 1.8%, to $100.08. This marks the first weekly loss for benchmark Brent prices in three weeks.
The oil prices had surged earlier in the week, reaching near four-month highs, after sources reported that crude loadings at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea export hub of Yanbu had been suspended and Riyadh cancelled some deliveries to Europe due to an attack on its East-West pipeline. However, prices cooled down as reports emerged that Saudi Arabia was seeking to restore about half the capacity of its East-West oil pipeline within days.
Saudi Aramco's exports from inside the Gulf are expected to rebound to between 1 million to 1.5 million barrels per day on average, similar to or slightly higher than August's levels. The spot supplies will be sold to Chinese and South Korean refiners among others, with some volumes going to India and Japan.
Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insights at Phillip Nova, stated that 'recent efforts to restore Saudi export capacity have reduced some of the immediate supply anxiety.'