Oil Prices Slip as Saudi Pipeline Restarts, US-Iran Talks Raise Supply Hopes

Brent crude fell 7 cents, or 0.07%, to $99.18 a barrel as of 0119 GMT on September 23, while West Texas Intermediate dropped 35 cents, or 0.39%, to $90.17. The decline followed Saudi Arabia's restart of its East-West Pipeline to the Red Sea and signals of progress in US-Iran diplomatic talks at the UN in New York. Brent closed below $100 on September 22 for the first time since September 8, weighed by improved supply outlook and efforts to end the near seven-month US-Iran conflict. Saudi Arabia resumed operations on the 4 million-barrel-per-day pipeline on September 22 after drone attacks forced a shutdown on September 11. Iraq is exporting more than 3 million bpd and expects to raise flows via Turkey above 600,000 bpd, Oil Minister Basim Mohammed said. US crude inventories rose 1.8 million barrels in the week to September 18, against analyst expectations of a decline.