Russia's seaborne exports of fuel oil and vacuum gasoil (VGO) to Saudi Arabia jumped 18% in March from February to 1 million metric tons as soaring oil prices driven by the Iran war reshaped flows, data from traders and LSEG showed.
Brent crude futures climbed above $105 a barrel early Thursday as tensions in the Strait of Hormuz mounted.
U.S. stocks poised to open lower
A large U.S. fund specialised in energy and infrastructure is set to make an offer for the ISAB refinery in Sicily, with the backing of an Indonesian oil group, Italian financial newspaper MF reported on Thursday, without naming the fund.
Slovakia started receiving crude oil through the Druzhba pipeline early on Thursday, the country's Economy Ministry said, confirming the end of a months-long outage after what Ukraine said was a Russian strike on the pipeline.
European stocks are expected to open in negative territory on Thursday as regional market sentiment declines.
Oil prices remain supported by supply risks around the Strait of Hormuz, strong U.S. exports, falling fuel inventories, and bullish technical setups in both Brent and WTI.
Oil prices were marginally lower on Thursday after big gains in the previous session amid the stalled peace talks between Iran and the United States, and as both nations maintained restrictions on the flow of trade through the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil edges lower in early trade. EIA data showed commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve increased by 1.9 million barrels in the week ended April 17.
The U.S. military has intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters and is redirecting them away from their positions near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, shipping and security sources said on Wednesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that technical details of oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline are being discussed at a corporate level, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
The European Union is considering dropping its opposition to new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.