Saudi and Libyan Oil Disruptions Moved Crude. U.S. Pump Prices Were Not Shown.

Oil prices did not settle into one story on Friday, October 23. Early in Asia, Brent was $112.96 a barrel, down 0.2%, and West Texas Intermediate was $98.12, down 0.3%, after Thursday's rise of about 4% left Brent at a five-month high. Later on Friday, CNBC reported December WTI near $102.39, up almost 3%, and Brent near $115.94, up about 2.5%.

The supply reports were firmer than the early dip. CNBC, citing Reuters, said Saudi Aramco ordered its Dhahran headquarters evacuated on Thursday as clashes with Yemen's Houthis intensified near the Bab el-Mandeb shipping lane. Libya's state oil company said a pipeline valve to Zawiya had been shut, reducing output at the Hamada and Tahara fields. Separate reporting described fresh Houthi attacks on Saudi oil sites.

None of those accounts includes a new U.S. gasoline or diesel retail average. Higher crude can raise wholesale fuel and freight costs later. Friday's trading has not been shown to have done that yet.

Did Friday's oil trading raise U.S. gasoline prices? No pump-price increase was established. The reports show a volatile crude market and reported disruptions in Saudi Arabia and Libya, not a new U.S. retail fuel price.