According to a Reuters report, Saudi Arabia is offering crude to Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers from Oman’s Sohar port.
- Saudi Aramco is reportedly looking to restore about half of the East-West pipeline capacity within days.
- According to an EIA report, U.S. crude inventories fell by 600,000 barrels to 423.4 million barrels for the week ending September 11.
- The Houthis said Saudi-linked vessels remain targets in the Red Sea.
Oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday after Saudi Arabia reportedly offered more crude through Oman, easing fears that damage to its key East-West pipeline could further restrict global supplies.
At the time of writing, Brent crude futures for November deliveries fell about 3.1% to $105.36 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contracts expiring in October dropped nearly 3.3% to $102.3 per barrel.
Brent has gained about 16% in September and roughly 45% since February 27, a day before the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran began.
The United States Oil Fund (USO), which tracks WTI, was down 3.1%, while the ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil (SCO) rose 2.2%.
Saudi Eyes Crude Transport Via Oman
According to a Reuters report on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia is offering crude to Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers from Oman’s Sohar port, helping offset the disruptions at its Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Meanwhile, according to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. crude inventories fell by 600,000 barrels to 423.4 million barrels for the week ending September 11. Gasoline stocks rose by 800,000 barrels and distillate inventories increased by 1.6 million barrels. Overall U.S. petroleum inventories rose by 2.6 million barrels.
Houthis Keep Tensions Flaring As Saudi Aramco Looks To Fix East-West Pipeline
Separately, Saudi Aramco is reportedly working to bypass the damaged section of its 1,200-kilometer East-West pipeline and restore about half of its capacity within days, with full repairs expected to take around six weeks. The pipeline was damaged by Yemen-based Houthi forces last week.
However, the risk of further disruptions remains. U.S. officials have reportedly decided against supporting Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against the Houthis following talks with the group over the weekend.
The Houthis said their 2025 ceasefire with the U.S. remains in place and that they do not plan to target U.S. ships in the Red Sea, though Saudi-linked vessels remain targets.
At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up 0.3%; the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) jumped 0.7%; while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) edged 0.1% lower. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits surrounding DIA and SPY was in the ‘bearish’ territory, while sentiment for QQQ was ‘extremely bearish.’
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