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Houthi blockade threat raises risk to Saudi crude exports via Red Sea
The Houthis said they would blockade Saudi Red Sea ports, potentially disrupting Riyadh’s redirected crude shipments of more than 4 million barrels per day.
Oil prices faced a new supply risk after Yemen’s Houthis said they would blockade Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ports, expanding conflict and threatening the flow of crude exports that Riyadh redirected away from the Strait of Hormuz. The article says the blockade announcement on Monday could affect more than 4 million barrels per day of Saudi crude moving through the Red Sea. It notes traders previously took some comfort from the redirection, which helped ease concerns about an oil shortage when Hormuz transits slowed. It also links the latest price moves to earlier US Iran tensions. The piece says crude prices spiked when those hostilities reignited, then slipped as hopes for peace grew, but the Houthi warning may provide a new catalyst for higher prices if it effectively restricts shipping. According to the article, tankers have already reportedly changed course to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, amid expectations that the Houthis could target shipping there. Energy Aspects co-founder Richard Bronze, as quoted by Reuters, said resuming attacks and shutting the Bab el-Mandeb would qualify as a catalyst that could justify a further rally.
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