Oil prices are being pushed higher by renewed geopolitical risk after the UK and the U.S. launched an attack on Houthi positions in Yemen. Brent temporarily climbed above $80 before falling back slightly. 

The militaries of the United States and the United Kingdom carried out joint strikes against Houthi militant targets in Yemen, targeting radars as well as missile and drone-launching sites, prompting Saudi Arabia to call for restraint in the Red Sea area.

The escalation of tensions in the Red Sea, culminating in the largest US/UK attack on Houthi positions since the start of Operation Prosperity Guardian, has prompted multiple tankers to divert from the Suez Canal and Danish shipping firm Torm joined the ranks of European companies avoiding Red Sea transits. For the first time in 2024, ICE Brent futures have traded above the $80 per barrel mark. As the shipping industry is tilting towards a blanket ban on all transits through the Bab el Mandeb Strait, the upside in oil (and even more so for gas) is far from over. 

/Oilprice.com/