Saudi Arabia reopened East-West oil pipeline (first since Sept 10 drone attacks); crude pared intraday gains — WTI settled +0.2% at $92.60, Brent +0.9% at $105.28
What happened
Saudi Arabia resumed exporting oil via its repaired East-West pipeline Monday, people familiar with the matter told Dow Jones/WSJ. State oil company Saudi Aramco started loading vessels at the Red Sea port of Yanbu via the pipeline on Sunday, after testing the line for structural integrity and pressure last week. The pipeline was shut by drone strikes on Sept. 10 and is now operating at roughly 3.5 million barrels a day — about half its 7-million-bpd capacity and below the ~4 million bpd it was carrying before the outage. The report, which broke at 12:39 p.m. ET, pulled WTI down from about $95.50 to $92.80 and Brent from ~$107 to ~$105; both still settled higher on the day — front-month WTI +0.2% at $92.60 and Brent +0.9% at $105.28.
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Start your free 14-day trialWho’s affected
- Saudi Aramco (operates the pipeline; restored export capacity) — not US-listed. Oil majors (Exxon, Chevron, ConocoPhillips) — lower geopolitical premium cuts crude price tailwinds, but the +$92.60 WTI settle keeps them highly profitable. Refiners and airlines — more stable supply relieves feedstock/jet-fuel cost pressure. Broad energy sector — the reopening trimmed the intraday rally, capping the upside of energy names.