US-Iran strikes and Houthi attacks on Saudi energy sites have fueled fears of further disruptions to global oil supplies
Global oil prices have surpassed $100 per barrel as escalating fighting between the US and Iran, and Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure, raised fears of further supply disruptions. Brent crude broke the threshold for the first time in nearly two months.
Brent futures climbed 2.2% to $100.07 per barrel in Asian trading, their highest level since July 24. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 1.83% to $94.73, while Brent has gained around 25% since early August as hopes of a lasting settlement to the US-Iran conflict have faded.
“Recent developments only reinforce the view that we’re still some way from a restart in talks. In the meantime, the market is likely to continue to price in a sizeable risk premium,” ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a note early Wednesday.
The latest price surge followed a sharp escalation at sea. US forces struck five Iranian crude carriers on Tuesday, and Iran later claimed that it hit two US vessels and eight oil tankers in the Persian Gulf in retaliation, inflicting “significant damage.”
The attacks came after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued an “urgent warning” to tanker crews near Bahrain and Kuwait to abandon their ships, saying vessels in the area would be targeted. Ballistic missiles were subsequently launched from Iran toward US military facilities across the region, including those in Jordan, where air defenses intercepted 18 of 20 incoming missiles, according to the military.
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The maritime confrontation has become an increasingly prominent front in the conflict. The US has restricted traffic to and from Iranian ports, while Tehran has imposed controls on passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy route that handled around a fifth of global oil supplies before the war.
Supply concerns have also intensified after Yemen’s Houthis launched missile and drone attacks on energy facilities in southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The strikes reportedly forced temporary shutdowns and sparked a fire at the Jazan refinery, a major Saudi Aramco facility capable of processing 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
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