Brent crude traded below $100 a barrel on Wednesday, extending a five-day losing streak as markets weighed efforts to restore oil supplies disrupted by the conflict in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is preparing to restart exports through its key East–West pipeline in the coming days, a move that would allow the kingdom to bypass the contested Strait of Hormuz and potentially boost outbound shipments.
At the same time, US President Donald Trump said American officials had held a “very productive” meeting with Iranian representatives and signaled that further talks were planned, despite his hard-line remarks on Tehran in a speech at the United Nations.
Elsewhere, the American Petroleum Institute reported a 1.8 million-barrel increase in US crude inventories, even as gasoline and distillate stockpiles declined. Investors are now awaiting official data from the US Energy Information Administration, due later Wednesday, for a clearer picture of supply–demand dynamics.
