NEW YORK: Oil prices climbed about 4% to a five-month high on Thursday after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia stoked concerns of further disruption to energy supplies from the key exporting region.
Brent futures rose US$4.35, or 4.0%, to settle at US$113.17 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose US$2.32, or 2.4%, to settle at US$99.47.
That was the highest close for Brent since May 4 and kept the global benchmark in technically overbought territory for the third time in a week.
"The complex is rebounding on another strong injection of risk premium related to an additional Houthi attack on Saudi infrastructure amid talk of a combined US/Israeli strike on Iran after the mid-terms," analysts at energy advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note.
Saudi Aramco told staff to evacuate its headquarters in Dhahran on the Gulf near Bahrain, Reuters reported, as fighting between the world's largest crude exporter and Yemen's Houthis intensified.
Clashes between the Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition that backs Yemen's internationally recognised government have raged since the Iran-aligned group pushed towards Bab el-Mandeb, a shipping chokepoint at the Red Sea's mouth.
"Reports of Middle East crude oil exports exceeding pre-conflict levels are more than countered by attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia and on its oil infrastructure," PVM Oil analyst Tamas Varga said.
Morgan Stanley analysts estimated that Middle East crude oil exports were around 17 million barrels per day last week. Crude exports from the region averaged about 18 million bpd in the 12 months before the start of the Iran war, according to Kpler.
In the US, refiner Valero Energy kicked off earnings season for US refiners on Thursday by posting its highest-ever quarterly profit, beating Wall Street expectations, as fuel supply disruptions due to wars in Iran and Ukraine boosted margins during the third quarter.
Russia pounded Kyiv with ballistic missiles and Ukraine sent hundreds of drones towards Moscow overnight as the two sides kept up a barrage despite the latest US push to end the war.
Russia said on Wednesday it was ready to resume US-mediated talks with Ukraine next month, after President Vladimir Putin hosted US envoy Steve Witkoff for talks in St Petersburg.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he hoped negotiations, which would be the first since February, would take place early in November.
Russia was the world's third-biggest crude oil producer behind the US and Saudi Arabia in 2025, US energy data showed. Sanctions designed to keep Russian energy out of global markets after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine have helped support oil prices.
Any deal to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which it launched in February 2022, could allow Russia to export more.
Senior Russian political and energy officials urged the European Union on Thursday to reconsider its plans to ban imports of Russian LNG, arguing the bloc's low storage levels had put Europe in a precarious position.
The European Parliament, meanwhile, approved a three-year delay to EU methane emissions rules for oil and gas imports, after pressure from governments including France and the US.
In Libya, an oil pipeline valve from the Hamada and Tahara oilfields to Zawiya port has been shut, leading to a reduction in production at both fields, the head of the National Oil Corporation told Reuters on Thursday. — Reuters
