Oil prices rose on Wednesday as concerns grew over supplies from the Middle East, with traders cautious about risks to shipping through the Red Sea and threats to Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure.
Brent crude futures rose $1.21 to $110 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained more than $1 to reach $99 a barrel.
Iranian media quoted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy as saying Tuesday that a large oil tanker caught fire after striking a sea mine south of the Strait of Hormuz while allegedly violating Iranian rules.
Ship-tracking firm Kpler said in a note on Monday that at least 18 attacks on vessels had been reported over a two-week period.
“Attacks on oil tankers have extended beyond the Strait of Hormuz,” analysts at the London Stock Exchange Group said in a note. They said Iran was targeting vessels farther south toward the Gulf of Oman, threatening loading operations outside the Arabian Gulf as well as ship-to-ship transfers that had helped support Middle East loading operations during the conflict.
The Houthis on Monday announced attacks on Saudi Arabia targeting an Aramco facility in Yanbu, the Shaybah oil field, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha Airport.
The death toll from a Houthi attack on a training camp belonging to Yemeni government forces on Monday rose to 73 as fighting between the two sides intensified.
Oil prices had fallen in the previous trading session after the Iranian president discussed mediation efforts during a meeting with Pakistan’s army chief in Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a televised interview aired Tuesday that Tehran had received no response from Saudi Arabia or Yemen’s Houthis to its offer to mediate talks aimed at ending the fighting between the two sides.
In the United States, two Energy Department officials said Tuesday that efforts were underway with refineries around the world to increase fuel production after diesel shortages drove prices higher.
Market sources said Tuesday, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute, that U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories declined last week.
The sources, who requested anonymity, said crude inventories fell by 4.9 million barrels, while gasoline stocks declined by about 2 million barrels and distillate inventories fell by around 2.6 million barrels from the previous week.
Source: Reuters
