USO pares pre-market loss, down 0.83% at $146.15, on report of attack on Saudi east-west pipeline

Saudi officials have not confirmed any strike or damage to the line, which normally carries about 3.5 million barrels a day

Brent crude fell in pre-market trading on a report that Saudi Arabia's east-west pipeline had been attacked, then pared most of that loss. Saudi officials have not confirmed any strike or damage to the line.

The pipeline, which carries oil from the kingdom's eastern fields to the Red Sea coast, has been targeted or reported targeted several times already this cycle. Each time, crude has jumped on the headline and then faded once Saudi Arabia showed it could keep flows moving. The line is running near its roughly 3.5 million barrel a day capacity, and Saudi exports have stayed close to record levels through the earlier disruptions.

This cycle has also produced claims that did not hold up. The Iranian outlet Nour News cited satellite imagery from October 3 to say tanks were burning at a refinery in Riyadh, a claim Saudi officials have not confirmed. Houthi forces have denied carrying out attacks that Riyadh never confirmed either.

Brent paring its loss rather than extending it suggests traders are treating the latest pipeline report with the same skepticism that met those earlier unverified claims. Separately, Reuters has reported that the European Union's energy taskforce has been discussing releasing diesel and crude stockpiles, after Washington asked European governments to release 120 million barrels over six months, a step that would add to supply if the market needed it. A rate-sensitive equity market that has shrugged off prior Saudi infrastructure scares once repair timelines firmed up has little reason to reprice on a report that has already partly reversed.