Nymex Overview: Crude Futures Retreat as Middle East Flows Recover — OPIS

Crude futures fell Tuesday as Saudi Arabia resumed exports through its East-West Pipeline and crude shipments from major Middle Eastern producers recovered.

As of 11:25 a.m. ET, November West Texas Intermediate was trading 96cts lower at $91.64/bbl, with the December WTI contract down 44cts at $88.57/bbl.

November ICE Brent crude fell 71cts to $104.57/bbl, with the December contract trading 76cts lower at $97.07/bbl.

Refined product futures were also trading lower. The October ULSD contract fell 6.38cts to $4.6915/gal, with November down 2.6cts at $4.4693/gal. October RBOB dropped 3.45cts to $3.3032/gal, with November down 1.05cts at $3.1473/gal.

Saudi Arabia has resumed loading vessels at the Red Sea port of Yanbu following repairs to the East-West Pipeline, which was damaged by drone attacks earlier this month. The pipeline is now operating at about 3.5 million b/d, according to The Wall Street Journal, versus roughly 4 million bpd before the damage.

Broader Middle Eastern supply flows have also recovered. Crude exports from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq reached nearly 13 million b/d--close to 80% of prewar levels, according to Kpler. Saudi loadings from Ras Tanura have also increased to about 6.5 million b/d from roughly 1.5 million b/d in early September, Kpler data showed.

President Trump rejected an Iranian proposal for a seven-day ceasefire that would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz and resumed nuclear negotiations, The Wall Street Journal reported. The disagreement leaves any broader resumption of flows through the waterway uncertain, according to Sally Auld, group chief economist at National Australia Bank.

Physical crude markets remain tight despite the recovery in exports. Kpler said the global market is running a deficit of about 1 million to 2 million b/d, with losses of Middle Eastern supply particularly constraining medium- and heavy-crude grades.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

Reporting by Allegra Fradkin, afradkin@opisnet.com; Editing by Dean Visser, dean.visser@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 29, 2026 12:11 ET (16:11 GMT)