Brent crude sits at $103.65 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate trades at $101.04. Despite the retreat, prices remain anchored above the $100 threshold, maintaining significant pressure on global fuel costs and consumer inflation. The market volatility was sparked by Houthi strikes on the East-West pipeline, a critical artery that previously transported up to 5 million barrels per day. The resulting suspension of shipments through the Red Sea port of Yanbu forced the cancellation of several European-bound cargoes earlier this week.

Sentiment shifted after Aramco successfully rerouted exports to the Persian Gulf. By conducting ship-to-ship transfers outside the Strait of Hormuz, the state giant has managed to maintain flow volumes despite the physical damage to its primary land-based network. While the company expects to restore half of the pipeline's daily capacity, the global supply deficit persists. Priyanka Sachdeva, an analyst at Phillip Nova, notes that the market is now fixated on the timeline for normalizing physical flows. Should traffic through the Strait of Hormuz show sustained improvement, the geopolitical risk premium currently baked into oil prices will likely continue to unwind.