Oil rises slightly as diplomacy hopes counter renewed Houthi attacks

Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday after earlier losses, as planned regional talks offered some relief from supply-disruption concerns while fresh Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia kept tensions in focus, Business Recorder reported. At 0718 GMT, Brent was at $116.24 a barrel, up 40 cents or 0.4%, and US West Texas Intermediate stood at $102.07, a rise of 30 cents or 0.3%. Both benchmarks had dropped 1% earlier in the session.

Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday, with the four sides agreeing to continue discussions on peace and security. Brent had climbed above $117 last week after Iranian strikes on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, and reached $117 again on Monday. The report said Gulf crude exports declined for a fourth consecutive week, while Hormuz traffic was around 60% of normal and global distillate stocks were nearly 5% below their five-year average.