Oil Prices Fall Further as Saudi Supply Fears Ease
Crude Prices Drop Further as Saudi Supply Disruption Concerns Recede
ISLAMABAD: (News Desk) – Oil prices fell in early trading on Thursday, extending the previous session’s sharp losses after reports that Saudi Arabia was arranging additional crude shipments through Oman helped ease concerns over potential supply disruptions in the Middle East.
Brent crude futures declined $1.24, or 1.2%, to $104.59 a barrel by 0049 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures dropped $1.14, or 1.1%, to $101.29 a barrel. Both benchmarks had shed around $3 a barrel on Wednesday.
Hiroyuki Kikukawa, chief strategist at Nissan Securities Investment, said concerns about tight oil supplies had eased somewhat following reports that Saudi Arabia would transport crude cargoes through Oman.
Sohail Afridi Claims Assassination Attempt Foiled During Wazirabad Visit
He added that expectations of progress in reducing tensions in the Middle East ahead of next week’s US-China summit were also limiting upward pressure on oil prices.
Saudi Arabia is reportedly offering additional crude loadings to Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers near Oman’s Sohar port. The move could help offset part of the global supply impact caused by attacks on the kingdom’s East-West pipeline leading toward the Red Sea.
UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said reports of Saudi Arabia exporting crude from the Gulf indicated that concerns over a potentially larger disruption to supplies were beginning to recede.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.