Oil prices drop below $100 as Saudi Arabia reopens Red Sea pipeline

Oil prices fell below $100 a barrel on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia reopened its key pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, which had been shut since a drone attack on September 13. The 1,200-kilometer pipeline, previously carrying 4-5 million barrels daily, allowed Saudi Arabia to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, largely closed since the US-Israel war with Iran began in February. The pipeline now transports only a limited amount of oil, according to informed sources. North Sea oil dropped to under $98 a barrel after two weeks above $100, partly due to Iran's offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for oil shipments. A senior Iranian official said the strait could reopen within seven days if the US eases military pressure and lifts the blockade on Iranian ports. Iran's delegation in New York for the UN General Assembly has a mandate to revive diplomacy with Washington, with President Masoud Pezeshkian traveling there Tuesday, though no meeting with President Donald Trump is planned.