Oil prices slips as US weighs easing sanctions on 'shadow fleet'

Brent crude fell more than 1% on Thursday, dropping $1.15 to $104.91 a barrel by 1157 GMT, according to Business Recorder. The decline followed a US official's comment that Washington was considering easing sanctions on some Russian tankers operating outside regulated channels, a step that could cut freight rates and make diesel shipments more flexible.

Crude still found support from the intensifying standoff between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, while fresh strikes on vessels in the region kept risk premiums alive. Officials said on Wednesday that a container ship and a dry bulk carrier had both sunk after separate projectile hits. Ukraine, meanwhile, resumed hitting Russian refineries, including a plant in the Ryazan region, which also limited the fall.

West Texas Intermediate futures edged up 0.3% to $95.40, with traders focused on the expected large draw in weekly inventories. Inventories of crude dropped 11.1 million barrels over the week to October 9, sharper than the Reuters poll of analysts had anticipated. Official US Energy Information Administration numbers arrive at 1600 GMT, a day later than normal because of Monday's Columbus Day holiday.