Middle East hostilities send Brent into triple-digit territory
Brent crude’s price shot above the $100/bbl threshold earlier today as the US and Iran continue to exchange fire in the Middle East.
IMAGE: Getty Images
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has been striking Iran for 13 consecutive days, targeting its command centers, drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, communication networks and maritime capabilities.
Since resuming the naval blockade against Iran, the US CENTCOM has redirected 12 commercial vessels and disabled one to prevent ships from entering or departing Iranian ports, it said on social media platform X.
Besides the Strait of Hormuz, fresh threats to other highly critical global oil chokepoints – like the Bab al-Mandeb Strait – have added to supply disruption concerns in the market.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militants struck two Saudi Arabian oil tankers yesterday for allegedly violating a maritime embargo on Riyadh’s oil exports that the group imposed earlier this week.
US President Donald Trump has threatened more attacks on Iran amid the latest escalation in the Red Sea and shortly after Iran conducted another round of attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, Al Jazeera reported.
Tehran carried out strikes on US allies in the region, including a telecommunications tower in Kuwait, the report added.
“The U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis,” Trump said on social media platform Truth Social.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s majority state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco has offered crude cargoes for loading from Egypt's Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, as threats to shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait continue to rise, Reuters reported citing five sources.
“Oil prices continued to rally, breaking above $100/bbl, as the conflict in the Middle East threatens to widen, putting additional supplies at risk,” two analysts from ING Bank noted.
By Aparupa Mazumder
Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online
