Oil prices fell sharply fell for a fifth straight trading session, reaching a two-week low on hopes of a renewed diplomatic push to end the Iran war and optimism over the reopening of a critical pipeline in Saudi Arabia. Brent crude oil briefly slipped below $98 per barrel while U.S. crude oil fell below $93 per barrel, their lowest prices since Sept. 8. Prices first began sliding overnight on reports that Iran was offering to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within days if the U.S. takes steps toward easing pressure on the country.
NBC News has not confirmed the reports. Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency said that “Iranian sources have described these reports as unreliable and untrue,” without naming those sources. It was the latest hint that there may be a window for Washington and Tehran to re-engage in their standoff over the Strait of Hormuz — a possibility that would be welcome relief for markets eager for the restoration of energy supplies from the Middle East.
President Donald Trump is holding a number of meetings with world leaders Tuesday at the United National General Assembly in New York City. Trump signaled a willingness to meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which had already soothed some market concerns. Asked about a potential meeting between the two leaders, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News, “I don’t think anything is scheduled at this point.” Rubio added that the U.S. was “open to something like that,” though.
Since the U.S. and Israel launched the Iran war Feb. 28, vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has at times ground to a near halt. Over the course of the last week, daily traffic did not exceed 20 ships in a day, according to data from MarineTraffic. Also fueling oil’s downward move Tuesday were reports about Saudi Arabia’s key east-west pipeline, which has effectively acted as a Strait of Hormuz workaround for oil exports.
On Sept. 11, the Saudi Energy Ministry said that the pipeline was shut after “multiple attacks” on it amid the escalating conflict with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Initially, experts worried that this closure could last months. reported that the pipeline had already restarted, and could resume exports from a Red Sea port later in the day, citing three people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg News reported that Saudi Arabia was running tests on the pipeline with the hope of restarting it this week, citing multiple people familiar with the matter.
Saudi Aramco, which operates the pipeline, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News. On NBC’s “TODAY,” Rubio said regarding prices, “if you look at the increases we’ve seen in just the last two weeks, the enormous majority of that increase is because the Houthi’s attacked a Saudi pipeline and the Saudis had to shut down that pipeline.” “So there’s still oil in the system, but the markets are reacting to the expectation that there will not be as much Saudi oil in the future” as a result of the pipeline attack, Rubio added. So are retail gas prices, which as of Tuesday morning reached $4.47 per gallon.
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