Oil Falls as Middle East Exports Recover and G7 Pledges Reserves

Oil prices declined Monday and Tuesday as Middle East crude exports recovered toward prewar levels and the Group of Seven agreed to release 100 million barrels of crude and fuel from emergency reserves. The price moves came amid continued regional conflict and uncertainty over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, Brent crude futures settled at $100.32 a barrel, down 1.89%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate settled at $89.43, down 1.84%, according to reported market data. Tuesday morning, Brent was trading around $100.17 and WTI near $88.67. Those were intraday observations, while separate reports gave different contract prices and closing figures, so they are not directly comparable. Shipping data from Kpler showed Gulf exports’ seven-day average reached 18.3 million barrels per day by September 30. The data indicated exports exceeded prewar levels on 14 days during September. A separate estimate from TankerTrackers.com put average exports at 18.13 million barrels per day between September 25 and October 1, 3.2% below its prewar comparison level. The estimates cover different periods and use different providers.