NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – Oil prices fell sharply Monday, sending global crude benchmarks to their lowest levels in 12 days. November Brent crude settled at $100.34 a barrel, down $3.53, or 3.4%. October West Texas Intermediate fell $4.52, or 4.51%, to $95.78 a barrel. Both contracts reached their lowest levels since September 9 during the session.
Crude prices moved higher in early Tuesday trading after four consecutive sessions of declines. November Brent rose $1.14, or 1.1%, to $101.48 a barrel by 0317 GMT. October WTI gained 87 cents, or 0.9%, to $96.65 ahead of the contract’s Tuesday expiration. The more actively traded November WTI contract rose 85 cents to $93.22 a barrel.
Saudi oil shipments also showed a partial recovery after recent disruptions to export routes. Saudi Aramco loaded about 14 million barrels onto seven supertankers in the Gulf on Sunday, according to tanker-tracking data. Saudi crude moving through the Strait of Hormuz averaged about 2.9 million barrels per day over six days. That compared with roughly 700,000 barrels per day in August.
Saudi crude shipments increase through Hormuz
The United Nations General Assembly in New York placed U.S.-Iran relations back in focus this week. U.S. President Donald Trump publicly said he was open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the gathering. Iranian officials also said Tehran had communicated conditions for renewed negotiations through mediators. No formal meeting between the two presidents had been announced by Tuesday morning.
Regional disruptions continued alongside the increase in Saudi export flows. Yemen’s Houthis said they had attacked Riyadh and a Saudi Aramco facility in the Red Sea city of Yanbu. In Libya, the National Oil Corporation said an armed group closed a valve on the Sharara crude pipeline Monday. The closure caused a sharp production decline at one of the country’s largest oilfields.
Brent rebounds after four-session decline
The Libyan corporation said the closed valve interrupted the pipeline carrying Sharara crude to Zawiya Port. It also said technical teams could not reach the affected valve area when its statement was issued. Sharara normally has production capacity of about 300,000 barrels per day. The disruption added another supply constraint to a market already tracking shipping conditions across major Middle East export routes.
Brent briefly traded below $100 a barrel Monday before recovering to its $100.34 settlement. Tuesday’s early rebound kept the international benchmark above that level while WTI also recovered part of its previous decline. Oil markets remained centered on confirmed export flows, pipeline operations and developments affecting major producing countries. Saudi shipments through Hormuz and the Sharara pipeline disruption remained among the latest verified supply developments.