Oil Drops Below $100 With Focus on Hormuz Flows, Diplomacy

Oil prices fell below $100 a barrel on Friday, with Brent crude dropping as much as 4.2% and West Texas Intermediate futures declining over 5% to near $95. Satellite data showed Saudi Arabia increased oil loadings from its Persian Gulf ports over the weekend, with the highest number of ships at the main port since June, indicating the kingdom resumed routing crude through the Strait of Hormuz after a cross-country pipeline to the Red Sea was shut down following drone attacks earlier this month. The declines marked the longest run of price drops since June. Rob Barnett, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Energy and Commodities Analyst, attributed the move partly to robust flows through Hormuz and diplomacy related to US-Iran tensions.

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