Brent crude rises toward $110 on Middle East supply curbs
Brent crude climbed to $109 a barrel on Monday, reaching a four-month high as supply from the Middle East tightened further amid the war in Iran. Saudi Arabia shut its East-West pipeline after attacks from Iraqi territory. The strikes halted infrastructure that had been moving 7 million barrels per day of Saudi oil to the Red Sea as an alternative to shipments stopped through the Persian Gulf by the Iranian blockade on GCC oil exports. Tehran also postponed scheduled talks between the GCC and Iran that were intended to support joint efforts to restart oil supply from the region. The disruptions extended the prolonged halt in tanker flows and have pushed major producers to suspend operations, with Saudi output recently falling to its lowest since 1990. Low oil inventories in China prompted the major importer to increase orders in August, while the US SPR remains near record lows.
Brent crude climbed to $109 a barrel on Monday, reaching a four-month high as supply from the Middle East tightened further amid the war in Iran. Saudi Arabia shut its East-West pipeline after attacks from Iraqi territory. The strikes halted infrastructure that had been moving 7 million barrels per day of Saudi oil to the Red Sea as an alternative to shipments stopped through the Persian Gulf by the Iranian blockade on GCC oil exports. Tehran also postponed scheduled talks between the GCC and Iran that were intended to support joint efforts to restart oil supply from the region.
The disruptions extended the prolonged halt in tanker flows and have pushed major producers to suspend operations, with Saudi output recently falling to its lowest since 1990. Low oil inventories in China prompted the major importer to increase orders in August, while the US SPR remains near record lows.