A picture taken during an organised tour by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on November 22, 2023 showing the Galaxy Leader cargo ship approaching the port in the Red Sea off Yemen’s province of Hodeida.
– | Afp | Getty Images
Oil prices rose on Tuesday after Iran dispatched a warship to the Red Sea, as the situation remains tense in the critical waterway for global shipments that has seen vessels attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Global crude benchmark Brent jumped 1.6% to $78.27 a barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 1.42% to $72.67 per barrel during Asia trading hours.
Iran on Monday announced it sent the Alborz destroyer through the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the country’s state media reported, without elaborating on details of the warship’s mission. It added that operations are periodically conducted in the Red Sea to secure shipping routes.
The move comes after the U.S. Navy destroyed three boats of Iran-backed Houthi rebels, killing 10 militants, according to an AP report. The Navy was responding to a distress call by Singapore-flagged vessel Maersk Hangzhou which had come under Houthi fire, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
In a statement by a rebel spokesman on Sunday, the Houthi group maintained that the boats were engaged in “official duties to secure maritime routes”, a news channel owned by the rebels stated.
Oil prices in the past one year
“Any escalation of conflict in this region is certainly going to add more of a risk premium on Brent,” Bernstein’s Senior Energy Analyst Neil Beveridge told CNBC. He noted, however, that there won’t be any major impact just yet.
“We haven’t seen the Iranian naval incursions before. And as long as it really doesn’t lead to any escalation, then I don’t really see any significant impact at this level,” he added.
I do want to also get your view broadly on oil markets and you know, the whole demand supply mismatch where there being oversupply concerns, what would that…
Read the full article here