Oil prices are rising after the Iran-backed Houthi group in Yemen declared a maritime blockade on Saudi shipping, exacerbating global energy supply concerns amid renewed attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, ticked up 1.8 percent to $90.85 a barrel shortly before 8 a.m. ET. WTI, the US benchmark, climbed by a similar margin to $83.97 a barrel.
Brent has now risen by almost $20 a barrel this month, as fighting between the United States and Iran ramps up again.
Oil prices were rising even before the Houthi rebels threatened Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea exports, a lifeline for the global oil market, via a blockade of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a chokepoint at the southern end of the Red Sea.
Saudi Arabia has increased exports from its Yanbu port in the Red Sea to 4 million barrels per day, seeking to bypass Hormuz, according to consultancy Rystad Energy.
The firm’s vessel tracking data “indicates that approximately 2.5 million barrels per day of these volumes are currently moving south through (Bab al-Mandeb), leaving a critical alternative export route directly exposed to potential Houthi action,” senior vice president Jorge León wrote in a note.
In late 2023, the Houthis caused severe disruption to container shipping in the Red Sea, in retaliation for Israel’s military campaign against Hamas.
Container shipping volumes have still not returned in full to the waterway.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency warned Tuesday that global energy security would deteriorate further unless the Strait of Hormuz reopened.
“There is no room for complacency on oil security amid the escalation in hostilities and a continued drawdown of available commercial inventories,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement.
-CNN
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, ticked up 1.8 percent to $90.85 a barrel shortly before 8 a.m. ET. WTI, the US benchmark, climbed by a similar margin to $83.97 a barrel.
Brent has now risen by almost $20 a barrel this month, as fighting between the United States and Iran ramps up again.
Oil prices were rising even before the Houthi rebels threatened Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea exports, a lifeline for the global oil market, via a blockade of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a chokepoint at the southern end of the Red Sea.
Saudi Arabia has increased exports from its Yanbu port in the Red Sea to 4 million barrels per day, seeking to bypass Hormuz, according to consultancy Rystad Energy.
The firm’s vessel tracking data “indicates that approximately 2.5 million barrels per day of these volumes are currently moving south through (Bab al-Mandeb), leaving a critical alternative export route directly exposed to potential Houthi action,” senior vice president Jorge León wrote in a note.
In late 2023, the Houthis caused severe disruption to container shipping in the Red Sea, in retaliation for Israel’s military campaign against Hamas.
Container shipping volumes have still not returned in full to the waterway.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency warned Tuesday that global energy security would deteriorate further unless the Strait of Hormuz reopened.
“There is no room for complacency on oil security amid the escalation in hostilities and a continued drawdown of available commercial inventories,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement.
-CNN
