\n<\/p>\n
Oil prices fell about 1%, extending losses for a third \u200bsession, but stayed above $100 on Friday, as hopes of alternate ways for barrels from the \u200cMiddle East to reach markets outweighed concerns about strikes between Saudi Arabia and Yemen\u2019s Houthis.<\/strong><\/p>\n Brent crude futures fell $1.01, or 1%, to $103.77 a barrel by 0020 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate futures fell $1.03, or 1%, to $100.88 a barrel. Both benchmarks had closed \u200bdown about 1% on Thursday.<\/p>\n Markets largely shrugged off concerns about new threats to supplies even as \u200bSaudi Arabia and Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthis exchanged fresh strikes across their border on Thursday, expanding \u2060the Middle East war front.<\/p>\n Oil prices had climbed to around four-month highs this week as sources said \u200bcrude loadings at Saudi Arabia\u2019s Red Sea export hub of Yanbu had been suspended and Riyadh had cancelled \u200bsome deliveries to Europe after its East-West pipeline was damaged in an attack last week. Three of \u200bthe pipeline\u2019s pumping stations \u2014 one more than assessed previously \u2014 were damaged, according to satellite imagery and three industry sources. \u200bA prolonged closure of the pipeline to Yanbu could cut off as much as 4% of global oil supply, traders have \u200csaid. Bloomberg \u2060reported that Saudi Arabia was seeking to return about half the capacity of its East-West oil pipeline within days after the critical link to the Red Sea was halted last week following drone attacks.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia was also offering more crude cargoes to Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers off Oman\u2019s Sohar port, a move that would \u200bhelp offset some of the \u200bdisruption caused by attacks \u2060on the East-West pipeline.<\/p>\n US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said that crude should be flowing through the pipeline within days.<\/p>\n Iranian Navy said a Togo-flagged oil tanker \u200bwas struck while attempting to make an \u201cillegal passage\u201d through the Strait of Hormuz \u200bon Thursday, Iranian \u2060state media said early on Friday.<\/p>\n Highlighting uncertainty, JPMorgan said on Thursday it does not have a clear baseline view for oil markets for the first time since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran.<\/p>\n The US and Iran \u2060have held \u200bno peace talks since an interim agreement reached in June \u200bcollapsed within weeks. The war will come up for discussion at the United Nations General Assembly next week, and an Iranian delegation will \u200bbe able to attend, according to the US State Department.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Sources that have spoken to Reuters have given varying estimates of how long it will take to reopen the pipeline and return crude flows to normal.<\/p>\n
Strait of Hormuz ship crossings remain in single digits, data shows<\/p>\n