Crude Falls to $103 as Saudi Arabia Resumes Red Sea Pipeline Oil Exports

Brent crude dropped to a one-week low near $103 per barrel after Saudi Arabia resumed operations on its East-West pipeline, restoring vital crude flows to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Loadings reached approximately 2 million barrels per day, easing Middle East supply disruption fears that had driven Brent up to $107.18 and WTI to $95.82 following Houthi missile strikes against Saudi infrastructure. With the pipeline restart, overall regional crude exports have recovered to roughly 12.8 million barrels per day, or just under 80% of pre-conflict levels.