WTI, Brent, Middle East

Oil prices fell Thursday as Saudi Arabia shifts some crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz to compensate for the closure of a key pipeline, easing market fears that the outage will cause another major disruption to global supplies.

Brent futures, the international benchmark, traded 2.8% lower at $102.89 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude briefly dipped below $100 per barrel. The U.S. benchmark was last down 1.8% to $100.54. Prices have gained more than 12% this month.

The Saudis are making additional crude cargoes available to Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers just outside Hormuz near Oman's Sohar port, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Earlier this week, crude loadings at the Red Sea export terminal at Yanbu were halted and Riyadh canceled some shipments to European customers , industry sources told Reuters.