Oil eases as markets assess potential waiver on Russian energy, Middle East supply risks

Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday, according to Business Recorder, as traders weighed a US executive order that set aside some sanctions and tariffs linked to Russian energy exports. Brent futures were quoted 49 cents down at $109.06 a barrel by 0010 GMT, a decline of 0.45 per cent. Hostilities involving Saudi Arabia and Yemen, however, kept worries about Middle East supply disruptions in focus.

The order, issued on Friday night, lifted key Russia-related sanctions and tariff duties, along with penalties for buying its oil and gas. Trump later said on Saturday that no final decision had been reached, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated officials wanted more time to assess the situation. A day earlier, Brent had touched $110.70 a barrel, its loftiest point since May 20.

Russian crude output rose by 65,000 bpd in September to 8.43 million bpd, but was still about 870,000 bpd lower than a year earlier, the International Energy Agency reported last week. Yemen's Houthi group said it had launched several strikes on Saudi energy, airport and military sites on Monday, among them an Aramco facility in Yanbu. Riyadh has not yet verified those claims, and Reuters could not check them independently. Separately, 58 people were reported killed and more than 200 injured in a Houthi attack on a security forces training camp in Yemen's Shabwa province.