Oil prices pulled back but remained elevated as markets priced in a potentially prolonged US-Iran conflict and assessed the impact of rising regional risks on crude exports. Brent crude for November delivery fell 2.88% to $105.6 a barrel at 2:18 p.m. ET, while WTI crude for October delivery declined 3.33% to $102.3 a barrel. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points to a 3.75%-4.00% range, its first increase since 2023, and officials projected one further hike before year-end. Higher rates typically pressure oil by slowing economic activity, strengthening the dollar and increasing inventory costs, although Standard Chartered analysts said the US-Iran stalemate and physical risks to regional exports should keep prices above a higher floor. A diplomatic meeting involving Iran and Gulf Arab states on commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was postponed because of a lack of Arab consensus. Houthi forces in Yemen seized the Red Sea port of Mocha and attacked Saudi Arabia's King Khalid Air Base, while a drone strike from Iraq damaged a pumping station on Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline near Riyadh and Medina. The damage forced Saudi Arabia to shut the pipeline, a key alternative to exports through Hormuz. Standard Chartered estimates that the route to Yanbu could remain largely unavailable for several weeks and that Saudi ports hold about one week of crude stocks at current export rates. Risks to Hormuz, the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb have therefore increased both supply uncertainty and the cost of transporting Gulf crude. Europe's natural gas prices also eased from recent highs but remained near 2022 levels. Dutch TTF futures fell from €82.84 per megawatt-hour last week to €77.66 on Wednesday, while storage stood at about 68%, 16.3 percentage points below the five-year seasonal average.