WTI Oil Prices Ease Amid Hopes of Higher Saudi Supply and China-Iran Talks

The price of US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Oil is heading for its first weekly decline in three weeks, falling to levels near $95. The price had reached a four-month high of $102.07 last Tuesday, but hopes that Saudi Arabia will increase its supply and China's call on Iran to rein in the Houthis have provided some relief.

Hopes that Saudi Arabia will increase its supply were boosted by news that it has found an alternative route through Oman to supply crude to Asian countries. This comes after a drone attack damaged the West-East pipeline transporting Oil to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, which was used to skip the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

The uncertainty in the Middle East is keeping Crude Prices supported, as China has privately asked Iran to rein in Yemen's Houthis. The Houthi militias seized critical coastal areas in the Red Sea last week and threatened to block the Bab el-Mandeb waterway, adding pressure on the already strained global crude supply.