Oil Tops $100 as Houthi Attacks Hit Saudi Energy and Red Sea Shipping
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Sep 10
Oil Tops $100 as Houthi Attacks Hit Saudi Energy and Red Sea Shipping
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Sep 10
Summary
$100 oil returned Thursday as Houthi attacks widened from Red Sea tankers to Saudi energy infrastructure, adding to disruption from U.S. strikes on Iranian oil tankers.
Fuel costs are climbing with it: U.S. diesel is nearing $6 a gallon and regular gasoline averaged $4.28, up from $4.01 a month ago, even as an Energy Department analysis sees gas holding near $4 this year.
Washington’s price-relief tools look limited because sanctions have not meaningfully curbed Chinese purchases of Iranian crude, and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is already at its lowest level since the Reagan era.
Saudi pipeline rerouting to the Red Sea had eased pressure on the Strait of Hormuz, but repeated Houthi attacks on that route and on Saudi soil are undermining that workaround.
Banks are now preparing for longer disruption: HSBC, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America lifted 2027 oil forecasts to about $85 a barrel, with HSBC raising its estimate by $20.