In a further development for Riyadh, satellite imagery showed smoke on Thursday in the vicinity of Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, vital for the kingdom to divert its crude exports away from Hormuz.
As more reporting said a pumping station on the pipeline had been damaged by Iran-affiliated militants, prices stayed lower.
"It's surprising the oil market remains down in light of reporting that Houthi rebels attacked the East-West Pipeline, which would impact 7 million barrels of crude," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
"Repairing a pumping station would require a lot more than repairing a break in the pipeline," Lipow said. "Electrical systems would have to be repaired, the pumping system would need to be repaired."
Saudi Arabia's crude supply fell by 2.3 million barrels per day on the month to 6 million bpd in August, the lowest level in more than three decades, the International Energy Agency said on Friday, citing attacks on Saudi energy facilities.
Adding to concerns over regional oil flows, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on Friday reached the island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters, potentially tightening their grip on one of the world's vital shipping routes.
Iran said it had attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, after the U.S. hit five Iranian oil tankers. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it would escalate its response to any further attacks.
Vessel transits at the Strait of Hormuz fell to seven on Thursday from 11 the previous day, preliminary ship-tracking data showed on Friday.
The strait handled about 125 commodity vessels and one-fifth of global daily oil and liquefied natural gas supplies before the Iran war began in late February.
Meanwhile, two European Central Bank policymakers opened the door on Friday to further interest rate increases if a war-fueled rise in energy prices continues and pushes up other prices in the euro zone.
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