Oil Prices Nears Six-Month High as Houthis Intensify Attacks on Saudi

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices went up by more than $3 on Friday, nearing their highest levels in six months after consistent attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia stoked concerns over further disruption ‌to energy supplies from the Middle East.

Brent crude futures settled at $116.72 a barrel after rising by $3.55 or 3.14 per cent, and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude closed at $103.27 a barrel, up $3.80 or 3.8 per cent.

Market analysts noted that fears of supply disruptions drove the advance after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels carried out a series of attacks across Saudi Arabia, including on energy infrastructure.

On Thursday, Saudi Aramco ordered the evacuation of its headquarters in Dhahran on the Gulf near Bahrain, after fighting intensified between Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter and Yemen-based ⁠Houthis.

Meanwhile, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), an oil spill from a tanker was detected off the coast of Umm Al Quwain.

Also, Reuters reported that on October 9, the Gem No. 2 supertanker was struck by an unidentified projectile 13 nautical miles (24 km) west of Al Jazeera in the UAE.

Clashes between the Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition that backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government have raged since the Iran-aligned Houthis pushed towards Bab el-Mandeb Strait last month, a shipping chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea.

President Donald Trump said on Friday the US could end the war with Iran quickly, but said perhaps it should allow the conflict to gradually wind down.

The US Department of Energy said it had authorised an emergency exchange of up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to address a supply disruption affecting Phillips 66’s Lake Charles refinery in Louisiana.

The SPR is already at the lowest level since 1982 after President Donald Trump tapped it as the US war on Iran disrupted supply lines. President Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, ⁠also tapped the SPR following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Also, Germany’s national oil stockpiling agency EBV circulated a tender to sell diesel, heating oil and crude oil volumes from strategic reserves.

This marks Germany’s first oil releases from strategic reserves since G7 countries, under pressure from President Trump, agreed to do so at the start of October.

The first Russian diesel bound for the US since the two nations reached an export agreement was aboard a tanker heading for New York.