NEW YORK: Oil prices pared losses to less than one per cent after dropping more than 3pc earlier on Thursday, as reports that Yemen’s Houthis had targeted a Saudi Aramco refinery with drones renewed concerns over supply disruptions in an already tight global market.

The Houthis attacked an Aramco refinery in Saudi Arabia’s Jazan with two drones on Thursday, the Iran-aligned movement’s Saba news agency reported. A Houthi military source said the attack was in response to what the group described as Saudi violations of Yemeni airspace and sovereignty in Saada and Hajjah provinces.

Saudi Arabia did not immediately comment on the report.

Brent futures were down 74 cents, or 0.8pc, at $88.24 a barrel at 11:58am EDT (1558 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 77 cents, or 0.8pc, at $82.56.

Earlier in the session, both contracts slid more than 3.5pc as investors focused on signs of weaker global demand and rising US crude stocks. Reports of the Yemeni attacks also sent diesel cracks HOc1-CLc1 to an all-time high.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2026