Oil slips as investors assess Saudi export recovery

[SINGAPORE] Oil prices slid on Monday (Sep 21) as investors eyed a recovery in shipments from Saudi Arabia despite ongoing attacks by Yemeni Houthis that have escalated tension in the Middle East while the US and Iran remain in a stalemate.

Brent crude futures dropped 81 cents, or 0.78 per cent, to US$103.06 a barrel at 0031 GMT after settling down 0.91 per cent on Friday.

US West Texas Intermediate crude was at US$99.41 a barrel, down 89 cents, or 0.89 per cent, following a 1.58 per cent loss in the previous session.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they attacked “sensitive” sites in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Saturday with missiles and drones, as well as an Aramco facility in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, a key oil export hub.

The attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Aramco’s East-West pipeline have prompted the state energy firm to increase exports through the Strait of Hormuz this month and next after halting some shipments via Yanbu.

That enabled exports from the Opec kingpin to recover to just over 4 million barrels per day (bpd) so far in September after slumping to 2.4 million bpd in August, the lowest since at least 2013, according to provisional data from analytics firm Kpler.

“Middle East oil flows remain surprisingly strong despite the disruption to Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline,” JPMorgan analysts said in a Sep 18 note, adding that the total oil flows averaged 17.1 million bpd in the past 10 days, just 6.1 million bpd below the 2025 average.

“The most notable pivot has come from Saudi Arabia,” the analysts said, as satellite data indicated Saudi oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 2.9 million bpd over the past six days, up from just 700,000 bpd in August.

China has asked Iran to help rein in the Houthis after an appeal to Beijing by Saudi Arabia following the attacks, according to three Iranian sources familiar with the matter.

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Iran and the US exchanged new threats on Sunday amid the stalemate, although President Donald Trump said he would be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is expected to be in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly.

Iran has conveyed its conditions to mediators for re-engaging in negotiations aimed at ending the war with the US, Al Jazeera cited Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, as saying in an interview on Saturday. REUTERS