On Wednesday (September 1), the price of North Sea Brent crude oil fell by one dollar and nine cents, or 1.1%, to $98.16 per barrel. This decline followed investors' optimism regarding improved supply from Gulf producers.
Developments in the U.S. Crude Oil Market
Meanwhile, U.S. WTI crude oil fell by one dollar and fifty cents, or 1.67%, to $89.01 per barrel. The prices of both oil benchmarks have decreased for six consecutive trading days, reaching their lowest levels in about two weeks.
Optimism in the market regarding improved supply and efforts to end Middle Eastern conflicts caused the price of Brent crude oil to fall below $100 per barrel for the first time since September 8 (September 17) on Tuesday (September 31). Tim Waterer, senior analyst at KCM Trade, stated that the market has a more optimistic view of the global oil supply situation compared to a few weeks ago.
Resumption of Saudi Arabia's Pipeline Activity
Three sources reported that Saudi Arabia resumed operations of the East-West pipeline to the Red Sea on Tuesday. An attack and damage to this pipeline on September 11 (September 20) had halted crude oil loading from the Saudi port of Yanbu. Since the disruption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz due to the U.S. and Israeli regime's war against Iran, Riyadh has used this pipeline to export approximately 4 million barrels of oil daily, equivalent to about 4% of global supply, from the port of Yanbu.
Basim Mohammed, Iraq's oil minister, stated on Tuesday that Iraq is currently exporting more than 3 million barrels of oil per day and expects to increase its exports through Turkey to over 600,000 barrels per day. Initial data from ship tracking companies Vortexa and Kpler indicated that Iraq's crude oil exports in August were 2.3 million and 2.17 million barrels per day, respectively.
Increase in U.S. Crude Oil Reserves
This figure has increased compared to July but remains below the pre-war levels of 3.7 million and 3.362 million barrels per day in February. Additionally, industrial data showed that U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 1.8 million barrels in the week ending September 18 (September 27), while analysts participating in a Reuters survey had predicted a decrease in the country's inventory levels.
