Oil prices rose on Thursday after fresh attacks in Saudi Arabia intensified concerns over crude supplies and shipping safety across the region. Brent crude traded at $110 a barrel, up $1.15, or 1.06%, while West Texas Intermediate crude stood at $98.05, an increase of 90 cents, or 0.93%, according to the report.
The latest market movement followed a series of attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on Wednesday. At least one person was killed and eight others were wounded in an attack on a civilian airport in Dammam, while a drone attack on a Saudi oil field killed two people. Explosions were also reported in Sirik in southern Iran, although Iranian media said the nature and origin of those blasts were unknown.
The United States ordered some diplomats and their family members to leave American missions in Saudi Arabia after the attacks. US officials told Reuters that the State Department also planned to withdraw family members from several other American missions in the region. The diplomatic measures added to concerns among traders about the security of energy infrastructure and transport routes.
Shipping risks are now extending beyond the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy shipments. Data from Kpler showed at least 18 attacks on shipping over the past two weeks. Analysts at LSEG warned that Iran was targeting tankers further away, including in the Gulf of Oman. They said the attacks were jeopardising Gulf crude loadings and ship-to-ship transfers used to support regional oil shipments.
Iranian officials issued fresh statements as tensions continued. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told the Financial Times that Iran was fully prepared to defend itself. President Masoud Pezeshkian told state media that the United States could not expect dialogue while blockading and threatening Iran. The statements came as shipping and energy markets assessed the risk of further disruption to crude movements.
Separate US inventory data provided another factor for the oil market. US crude inventories fell by 3.06 million barrels last week to 412.5 million barrels, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. The decline was larger than the 820,000-barrel draw expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.
Distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 1.68 million barrels to 104.3 million barrels. Analysts had expected these stockpiles to fall by 1.16 million barrels, according to EIA data. The Trump administration has also offered to loan up to nearly one-third of the US emergency heating oil reserve, which holds one million barrels, as it seeks to contain prices amid diesel shortages linked to the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
The wider geopolitical picture remained unsettled. Russian President Vladimir Putin met US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg on Wednesday to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin said Putin had agreed to resume US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine as soon as next month. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy backed the proposed talks and said he hoped they would begin as soon as possible.
