Oil prices lost almost $1 as Monday trading opened, falling back from their highest level in nearly six months, Reuters reported. U.S. crude futures were down 99 cents, or 0.96%, at $102.28 a barrel by 23:15 GMT, while Brent crude futures were down 93 cents, or 0.8%, at $115.79 a barrel.

Source: Reuters via TradingView, Oct 25

About 20 minutes after trading opened, Brent had eased further to $115.27 a barrel and U.S. WTI crude to $101.71, Sweden Herald reported, citing Friday's close at $116.72 for Brent and $103.27 for WTI. The two snapshots were taken minutes apart in early, thin trading, so the exact level moved between them.

Source: Sweden Herald (TT), Oct 25

$115.79Brent crude per barrel at 23:15 GMT in Reuters' early-trading snapshot, down 93 cents
$102.28U.S. crude per barrel at 23:15 GMT, down 99 cents or 0.96%
$116.72Brent's Friday close — its highest settlement in nearly six months

A pullback, not a reversal

Yaani: this is a small step back of less than 1% after a sharp rise — prices are still far above the roughly $70 a barrel level seen before the U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28, Sweden Herald reported. That gap is why fuel costs for truckers, airlines and households in Canada, India and the Gulf remain under pressure even on a down day.

Over the weekend, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement carried out a series of new drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia's airports and oil industry, and Saudi Arabia in turn launched airstrikes on targets in Yemen, Sweden Herald reported. Those attacks, and continuing risks to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, have kept a large risk premium in oil prices in recent weeks.

Traders will watch the rest of Monday's session for whether the early dip deepens or buyers return, and for any new military or diplomatic development involving Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea shipping routes.