Crude Oil Holds Below $91 as Supply Pressures Ease

Crude oil held below $91 a barrel on Monday, with markets balancing easing supply pressures against renewed geopolitical risks. Prices came under pressure after Saudi Aramco cut the November selling price of Arab Light to Asian buyers to $5 a barrel below the regional benchmark, a deeper discount than the $2 offered for October. The move suggests stronger competition for market share as oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz recover, while the G7’s latest emergency stockpile release is also weighing on prices. However, supply concerns remain significant. Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline continues to operate normally after reports of a fresh attack had briefly raised fears of another disruption. Meanwhile, OPEC+ agreed to leave production quotas unchanged next month.

Crude oil fell to around $90 per barrel on Monday, extending losses as signs of increasing global supply outweighed concerns over persistent geopolitical risks in the Middle East. On Friday, G7 countries agreed to release 100 million barrels of crude and diesel from emergency reserves while pledging not to impose restrictions on energy exports. Major OPEC+ members also agreed over the weekend to keep production quotas unchanged next month amid prolonged supply disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict. Meanwhile, data showed Persian Gulf crude exports exceeded pre-war levels on four of the seven days during the final week of September, despite disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the ongoing US-Iran conflict. In Yemen, Saudi-backed forces launched a full-scale military operation to retake areas controlled by the Houthis following weeks of escalating tensions between the Iran-backed group and Saudi Arabia.

Crude oil fell toward $90 per barrel on Monday as investors continued to monitor rising tensions in the Middle East, while OPEC+ agreed to maintain oil production quotas unchanged next month. Saudi-backed forces in Yemen launched a full-scale military operation to retake areas controlled by the Houthis following weeks of escalating tensions between the Iran-backed group and Saudi Arabia. The Houthis seized control of the Bab el-Mandeb, a strategic chokepoint between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that Saudi Arabia had been using to export oil while avoiding the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, major OPEC+ members agreed over the weekend to leave production quotas unchanged next month amid prolonged supply disruptions from the Middle East conflict. The decision comes as oil prices climb back toward the $100-a-barrel level and diesel prices reach record highs at the pump, prompting G7 nations to release emergency oil reserves amid the continuing conflict.