Oil prices rose on Thursday after Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia prompted Washington to order some diplomats and their family members to leave U.S. missions in the kingdom.
By 00:34 GMT, Brent crude futures had risen $1.29, or 1.2%, to $110.11 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 97 cents, or 1%, to $98.12 a barrel.
Brent settled little changed on Wednesday, while WTI fell 67 cents.
U.S. officials told Reuters that the State Department also plans to withdraw family members of diplomats from several other U.S. missions in the region.
The Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen launched attacks on several targets on Wednesday, killing at least one person and injuring eight others at a civilian airport in Dammam. Two people were also killed in a drone attack targeting a Saudi oil field.
Meanwhile, Iranian media reported Wednesday that explosions were heard in the Sirik area of southern Iran, although the nature and source of the blasts remained unknown.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Financial Times on Wednesday that his country was fully prepared to defend itself. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, told state media that the United States could not expect dialogue while imposing a blockade on Iran and issuing threats against it.
Data from Kpler showed that at least 18 attacks on maritime traffic had taken place over the past two weeks. Analysts at the London Stock Exchange Group warned that Iran was targeting oil tankers well beyond the Strait of Hormuz, extending as far as the Gulf of Oman. The attacks threaten crude oil loading operations in the Gulf as well as ship-to-ship transfers supporting exports from the region.
Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin received U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg on Wednesday for talks on ending the war in Ukraine, as part of a renewed U.S. effort to halt Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
The Kremlin said Putin had agreed to resume U.S.-mediated peace talks with Ukraine as soon as possible, potentially as early as next month. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed support for the talks, hoping they would begin as soon as possible.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 3.06 million barrels to 412.5 million barrels last week. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a decline of 820,000 barrels.
EIA data also showed that distillate inventories, including diesel and heating oil, rose by 1.68 million barrels to 104.3 million barrels, while analysts had expected a decline of 1.16 million barrels.
Source: Reuters
