US oil prices fall as investors gauge risks to Mideast supply
USO•US WTI crude futures fell 92 cents, or 0.9%, to $101.86 a barrel on Thursday as traders weighed risks to regional supply; prices had risen 3% on Wednesday.
1. Oil prices retreat
US WTI crude futures fell 92 cents, or 0.9%, to $101.86 a barrel, after dropping as low as $101.75. The decline pared some of Wednesday’s 3% gain as traders assessed whether escalating conflict in the Middle East could disrupt regional energy supplies.
2. Regional tensions persist
Yemen’s Houthis attacked Aden airport on Wednesday, government forces said, after the group warned people to evacuate. The Houthis said on Tuesday they had struck Saudi Arabia’s biggest oil refinery, a 550,000-barrel-per-day facility; Saudi authorities had not immediately confirmed the strike. Qatari mediators presented Iran with a new draft deal to end the war with the US and Israel, while a senior Iranian official called the ideas unacceptable and said they did not amount to an offer.
