Oil prices rose for a fifth consecutive trading session early on Thursday, climbing above $98 per barrel to their highest level in nearly two months, as escalating Houthi attacks on tankers in the Red Sea heightened concerns over Middle East oil supplies.
In early European trading, Brent crude rose 4.21% to $98.03 per barrel, while the U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), gained 3.16% to $89.57 per barrel, edging closer to the $90 mark.
The gains came as the Iran-aligned Houthi movement appeared to follow through on its pledge to target Saudi Arabia’s oil exports transiting the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The Red Sea is a critical export route for Saudi crude. In recent months, the Kingdom has redirected more than 70% of its crude exports that previously departed from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
According to reports, at least two oil tankers turned away from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait after Yemen’s Houthi movement claimed it had struck two Saudi tankers in the strategic waterway. The group alleged that the vessels had violated a naval blockade declared earlier this week, marking the latest escalation in regional tensions.
One of the tankers was reportedly carrying Saudi crude destined for India, while the other was transporting oil to China.
“We targeted two Saudi oil tankers, named Encelia and Layla, for violating the blockade decision issued by the armed forces,” Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said, according to Al Jazeera.
Thursday’s rally extended oil’s gains to a fifth straight session, with prices now up nearly 20% since tensions in the region escalated about two weeks ago.
“The fact that the Houthi rebels reportedly attacked two Saudi tankers near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen has increased concerns about further escalation,” Maya Westerlund, Strategy & Macro Research Intern, FICC Markets at Sweden’s SEB, said in a research note on Thursday.
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