Oil prices ease as Saudi shipping picks up
Oil is getting cheaper again, which is good news for drivers and businesses that burn fuel, and a sign the Middle East fighting has cooled off for now.
- US crude slipped back under $90 a barrel and Brent is near $103.
- Saudi Arabia is moving more oil across the desert to the Red Sea and pushing more through the Strait of Hormuz.
- Satellite images show more ships moving, and the Saudi pipeline hit by a Houthi drone is about halfway repaired.
- Yemen's rebels and their Iranian backers appear to have paused the fighting, possibly to regroup.
- In Hawaii, Kennedy Wilson paid $246 million to Kamehameha Schools for the land under Kona Village Resort, a year after a similar deal for Michael Dell's Hualalai property.
Outlook: Oil should stay softer while shipping keeps flowing, but a restart of the attacks would push prices right back up.