Oil settles USD3 higher

Business Recorder reported that Brent closed USD3.07 higher at USD108.75 a barrel on Tuesday, while WTI rose USD4.44 to USD105.83. Both benchmarks finished at their highest levels since May 19. Shipping sources said loadings had stopped at Yanbu, the Red Sea terminal in Saudi Arabia, and some cargoes to European buyers were cancelled.

Houthi attacks on the East-West Pipeline on Friday forced Saudi Arabia to close its main export route, and fresh strikes on the kingdom on Monday added to supply worries. Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates said expectations that European refiners would buy more US crude had helped WTI gain more than Brent. Goldman Sachs said a scenario with Gulf output staying 4 million barrels per day under pre-war levels in 2027 would raise the chance of Brent trading above USD120 a barrel.

Libya's National Oil Corporation said operations at three fields had been halted after protesting guards closed a valve on the Hamada-Zawiya pipeline, and it warned it could declare force majeure. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC that oil should be flowing again through the East-West pipeline within days. Goldman Sachs noted that repair estimates span from a near-term fix to a period of eight weeks. Preliminary Kpler figures indicated that only four commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, compared with 10 the day before.