Oil Extends Slide as Saudi Arabia Moves to Patch Pipeline Damage

Oil prices fell further on 17 September, with Brent crude down $2.67, or 2.5%, at $103.13 a barrel by midday in New York, and US West Texas Intermediate down $1.61, or 1.6%, at $100.82, according to a market report carried by Business Recorder. Both benchmarks had already fallen by roughly $3 a barrel in the previous session.

Saudi Arabia Moves Crude Through Oman

The declines followed news that Saudi Arabia is offering additional crude cargoes to Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers at Oman’s Sohar port, a workaround for disruption on its East-West pipeline after drone attacks damaged three pumping stations. The kingdom is aiming to restore roughly half of the pipeline’s capacity within days, though a full repair timeline was not yet clear.

“Crude retreated from weekly highs after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright signalled a quicker return to service for Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline,” said Tim Waterer, an analyst at KCM Trade.

Christopher Tahir of Exness described the move more simply: “Oil prices extended the previous session’s losses on Thursday as concerns over Middle East supply disruptions eased to some extent.”

Banks See a Wide Range Ahead

Singapore’s DBS Bank said its base case for the fourth quarter assumes tensions between the United States and Iran will continue to ease, which it expects would let Brent settle into an $85–$95 range — below where the benchmark was trading even after the latest declines.

That range underscores how much of the recent premium in oil prices has been geopolitical rather than driven by physical supply and demand: if the pipeline is genuinely repaired and the wider regional conflict does not escalate further, banks expect crude to give back a meaningful part of its recent gains.

For now, the market is treating Saudi Arabia’s Oman workaround as a credible stopgap rather than a full resolution, leaving prices still elevated but off their recent highs.