NEW YORK: Oil prices topped $100 on Thursday, their highest levels in nearly two months, after Yemen’s Houthis said they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, causing further global supply disruptions following a near-halt in trade through the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent futures rose $6.59, or 7 per cent, to $100.66 a barrel at 12:58pm ET (1658 GMT), exceeding $100 for the first time since late May. The global crude oil benchmark has risen nearly 40pc this month.
US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $5.45, or 6.3pc, to $92.28, trading above $90 for the first time since June 11. Both contracts were up for the fifth straight day.
“The (Saudi tankers) attack has sent world crude oil prices higher and into a higher gear as the ramifications of yet another chokepoint for crude oil trade originating from the Middle East is constricting trade,” said Tim Snyder, chief economist at Matador Economics.
Still, following the attacks, two Chinese supertankers carrying a combined 4 million barrels of Saudi Arabian oil managed to exit the Red Sea via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Thursday, shipping data showed.
Goldman Sachs said Brent might exceed $120 a barrel in the fourth quarter and average $100 next year if the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted through 2027, with further upside if the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Suez Canal also suffer persistent disruption.
Iranian strikes on vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz have resulted in a drop in non-Iranian oil tankers traversing the waterway. At the same time, the reintroduction of a US naval blockade targeting Iranian ports has likely resulted in Iranian oil loadings falling to zero from 1.5 million to 2 million barrels per day at the start of the month, Giovanni Staunovo, a UBS analyst, said.
As a result of fewer shipments exiting the strait, loading activity within the Gulf has fallen to 2.5 million bpd over the past seven days, compared with 6 million bpd over the past 30 days, he added.
Seven core Opec+ members Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman will likely increase their output target by about 188,000 bpd for September, the same as for June, July and August, when they meet on Aug 2, three sources told Reuters, even as the Iran war hinders some of the group’s members from pumping more.
Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2026