WTI Crude Falls Amid Rebound in Gulf Oil Exports
Oil prices pulled back in New York on Tuesday as data showed that physical oil flows from the Persian Gulf are recovering. The decline came despite ongoing diplomatic uncertainty between Washington and Tehran, which has kept a floor under prices.
West Texas Intermediate for November delivery settled down $3.22, or 3.5%, at $89.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude traded at higher levels in European and Asian sessions, with the more actively traded December contract at $97.94 a barrel.
Shipments from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the UAE have reached their highest combined level since February, according to data from European research firm Kpler. The East-West Pipeline in Saudi Arabia has resumed operations, carrying up to 7 million barrels per day, with roughly 3.5 million barrels per day flowing through it after the restart.
Despite the recovery in export volumes, transporting crude around the Gulf remains costly and difficult due to ship-to-ship transfers and other workarounds. This has kept crude prices elevated even as headline export figures improve.