Pumpjack seen in Staunton, Texas on March 17, 2026.
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Oil prices fell on Wednesday as rising US crude inventories helped offset rising geopolitical risk premiums, despite intensifying attacks on the United Arab Emirates’ energy infrastructure.
The international benchmark Brent price fell 1.17% to $102.19 per barrel. U.S. crude oil prices fell 1.81% to $94.56 per barrel as of 10:44 p.m. ET.
U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 6.56 million barrels in the week ending March 13, market sources told Reuters, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute.This was well ahead of the 380,000 barrel addition expected in a Reuters poll for the same period.
The rebound in prices came even as new attacks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) heightened concerns about prolonged supply disruptions amid the Iran conflict. Recent incidents include a drone attack on the world’s largest super-acid gas facility, a fire in the Fujairah oil industry, and damage to a tanker near the Strait of Hormuz.
The UAE reopened its airspace on Tuesday after a temporary closure due to drone attacks. Meanwhile, operations at the Shah gas field remained suspended after a fire caused by another drone attack, with no injuries reported, authorities said.
The Shah oil field, located about 110 miles southwest of Abu Dhabi, is operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Occidental Petroleum. It has the capacity to produce more than 1.28 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day and 4.2 million tons of sulfur per year.
Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, said the U.S. use of bunker-busting bombs to destroy Iranian missile bases near the Strait of Hormuz has also put some pressure on oil prices.
“This gives us optimism that we are getting closer to the day when tankers can safely resume navigating the waterway,” he told CNBC.
Citi said the oil market is likely to remain under pressure in the short term. In our baseline scenario, disruptions to flows through the Strait of Hormuz over the next four to six weeks could remove as much as 11 million to 16 million barrels of oil per day from the market and push Brent oil prices to around $110 to $120 per barrel.
In a more severe scenario, prices could rise to an average of $130 in the second and third quarters, and as high as $150 for Brent and $200 including refined products, due to prolonged power outages and widespread attacks on energy infrastructure, Citi said.
