Two sanctioned oil supertankers engage in a crude transfer near the Borrachas Islands at Venezuela’s northeastern coast off Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela Aug. 9, 2026.
Leonardo Fernandez Viloria | Reuters
Oil prices fell Thursday as Saudi Arabia shifts some crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz to compensate for the closure of a key pipeline, easing market fears that the outage will cause another major disruption to global supplies.
Brent futures, the international benchmark, was 3.6% lower at $102 per barrel, while U.S. crude oil was down 2.8% at $99.53 a barrel. Prices are down for the week but have gained more than 12% this month.
The Saudis are making additional crude cargoes available to Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers just outside Hormuz near Oman’s Sohar port, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC Tuesday that the East-West pipeline outage was a “brief and temporary interruption” that “will be measured in days.” Riyadh has taken “quick action” to export more oil through Hormuz with the help of the U.S. military, Wright said.
Earlier this week crude loadings at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea export terminal at Yanbu were halted and Riyadh canceled some shipments to European customers.
Yanbu has become Saudi Arabia’s key route for oil exports since Iran began blockading the Strait of Hormuz following U.S. and Israeli attacks on the country in late-February.
Peter Massabni, head of business development at XS.com, said in a note late Wednesday that Saudi Arabia’s efforts to find alternative export routes following the disruption at Yanbu have reassured markets that some lost crude supply could return.
However, he cautioned that the outlook remains highly dependent on developments in the Middle East.
A renewed escalation that causes deeper disruptions to regional oil and gas production and exports would keep inflation risks elevated and put further upward pressure on bond yields, Massabni said.
“This uncertainty regarding escalation paths in the region, along with crude, gasoline, and diesel prices staying at high and critical levels, could fuel pessimism about the US Federal Reserve monetary policy path,” he wrote.
