- Oil prices face longest losing streak in a year amid easing supply concerns
- Brent crude drops toward $98, falling six sessions with over 9% losses
- Saudi Arabia restarts East-West pipeline at reduced capacity after attack
Oil prices are heading for their longest losing streak in a year as signs of recovering supply from Saudi Arabia and renewed US-Iran diplomacy ease some of the risk premium that has driven crude sharply higher this year.
Brent crude slipped toward $98 a barrel on Wednesday, extending its decline to a sixth straight session and taking losses over the six-day run to more than 9%. West Texas Intermediate futures fell below $90. The move would mark Brent's longest losing streak since August 2025.
A key trigger for the latest selloff has been the restart of Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, a crucial alternative route that allows the kingdom to move crude to the Red Sea without relying on the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Arabia restarted the pipeline at a reduced rate on Tuesday after it was damaged in drone attacks earlier this month. The system has capacity of 7 million barrels a day, although restoring full flows could take several weeks. Saudi Arabia has also been increasing shipments through Hormuz as it works to maintain exports.
The reopening of the route comes as Washington and Tehran signal renewed interest in diplomacy. US President Donald Trump said officials had a “very productive” meeting with Iranian envoys and that further discussions were planned. Iran has also signalled that it could consider reopening the Strait of Hormuz, although the conditions around any such move remain unresolved.
Hormuz remains central to the oil market outlook because prolonged disruption to the waterway has constrained global energy flows and pushed crude prices more than 60% higher this year, while refined fuel prices have risen even more sharply. Any sustained restoration of Saudi export capacity, combined with progress towards easing the US-Iran conflict, could reduce the immediate supply threat.
The American Petroleum Institute reported a 1.8-million-barrel increase in nationwide crude stocks, while gasoline and distillate inventories declined. Official Energy Information Administration data are due later Wednesday.
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