Economy
Crude Oil Remains High as Houthis’ Attacks on Saudi Stoke Supply Worries
By Adedapo Adesanya
The price of crude oil grades remained high on Tuesday after Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen attacked Saudi Arabia’s energy facilities, setting installations ablaze and threatening a major expansion of the six-month-old Middle East war.
Brent futures traded at $97.92 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled at $93.03 per barrel during the session.
The Houthis attacked four cities in the south of Saudi Arabia, which is an ally of the US, on Tuesday, wounding more than 70 people and setting oil installations on fire.
As a result, Saudi Arabia temporarily halted some operations at energy facilities in its southern region bordering Yemen, following attacks on energy sites on Tuesday morning local time, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
“Several energy sector facilities and installations in the southern region of the Kingdom were targeted this morning,” the agency said, quoting an official source at the Ministry of Energy.
The attacks caused fires at several locations, leading to a temporary halt in some operations, Saudi Arabia said, adding that “specialised field teams have begun containing the fires, securing the sites, and assessing the damage.”
Saudi Arabia, the world’s second-largest crude producer after the United States, has relied on shipments through the Red Sea to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
However, the attacks on Tuesday could significantly escalate the conflict’s impact on the global economy, as the strikes threaten to disrupt energy supplies from the wider Middle East, beyond the already blockaded strait.
China, the world’s largest oil importer, is now aggressively bidding up crude prices across Africa, Canada, and Latin American markets as disruptions in the Hormuz chokepoint and limited Iranian supplies intensify competition for alternatives.
US President Donald Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Tuesday that he wanted a swift end to the war in Ukraine, which would allow US-Russia ties to be fully restored.
An end to the Russia-Ukraine war could allow Russia to export more energy. Russia was the world’s third-biggest crude oil producer behind the US and Saudi Arabia in 2025.
