Economy
Oil Prices Mixed as Middle East Tensions Rattle Markets
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices were mixed on Monday after attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on a Yemeni military training camp and renewed attacks on Saudi energy, airport and military facilities.
Brent crude futures lost 31 cents or 0.3 per cent to close at $109.55 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained $2.25 or 2.2 per cent to quote at $103.66 a barrel.
Yemen’s Houthis said on Monday they had carried out attacks on Saudi energy, airport and military targets, including an Aramco facility in Yanbu, the Shaybah oilfield, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha airport.
Separately, an oil tanker caught fire and exploded after striking a naval mine in the southern Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.
Egypt indicated its readiness to support Saudi Arabia against the Houthis, though Egypt’s parliament delayed until October 26 a vote that would authorise the armed forces to assist the kingdom if requested.
Earlier on Monday, 53 people were killed in a Houthi attack, and 200 were injured in an attack on a Yemeni government security force training camp in the energy-producing province of Shabwa, in coastal south-central Yemen.
Crude flows through the region fell to a seven-day average of about 8.5 million barrels per day last week, down from more than 20 million barrels per day the previous week, analytics firm Kpler said, due to the increased threats to commercial shipping. Kpler also reported at least 10 confirmed incidents involving commercial vessels during the week.
US President Donald Trump defended his decision to waive sweeping sanctions planned against Russia as an effort to keep the country at the negotiating table amid strong criticism from Ukraine and some US lawmakers that it sends the wrong message to the Kremlin.
Market analysts noted that the waiver did little to address the physical supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, where oil tanker attacks continue.
Despite international efforts to curb energy flows from Iran and Russia, both countries have continued exporting fuel, which has limited the effects of supply disruptions on global markets.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, pumped an average of 39.07 million barrels per day in September, up about 900,000 barrels per day from August.
