Oil prices settled about 1% lower on Thursday but remained above $100 a barrel, as concerns over Saudi supply disruptions eased somewhat following reports that additional Saudi crude could reach global markets. Brent crude futures fell $1.01, or 0.95%, to $104.82 a barrel, while WTI fell 52 cents, or 0.5%, to $101.91 a barrel. Both benchmarks had fallen about 3% on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saudi Arabia is offering additional crude cargoes to Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers off Oman\u2019s Sohar port, helping offset some of the disruption caused by attacks on the East-West pipeline to the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia is also seeking to restore about half of the pipeline\u2019s capacity within days after drone attacks halted the link last week. The East-West pipeline supplies Saudi Arabia\u2019s Red Sea export hub at Yanbu, where crude loadings were suspended earlier this week. Saudi Arabia also canceled some crude cargoes to European customers. A prolonged pipeline outage could affect as much as 4% of global oil supply, although Energy Secretary Chris Wright said crude should be flowing through the pipeline within days. Three pumping stations serving the pipeline were damaged in last week\u2019s attack, and the full repair timeline remains unclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The physical oil market remains tight. Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continues to fall, while continued fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis is keeping Red Sea shipping and regional energy infrastructure at risk of further disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diesel supplies continue to be another major source of pressure on energy markets. Disruptions to energy infrastructure in the Middle East and Russia are constraining fuel availability, while European gasoil futures and U.S. ultra-low sulfur diesel futures both reached record settlement levels earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Ukrainian drone attack also damaged a refinery in Yaroslavl, Russia, on Thursday, causing a fire that was later extinguished. Continued disruptions to refining capacity in Russia are adding further pressure to an already tight global diesel market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n