Oil prices jump over 2%: Brent tops $107 as fresh Saudi, Strait of Hormuz strikes fuel supply fears

Oil prices rose more than 2% on Monday as fresh Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and Iranian strikes on vessels in the Gulf added to supply concerns following the shutdown of a key Saudi oil pipeline.Brent crude futures rose $2.90, or 2.77%, to $107.51 a barrel by 2313 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained $2.27, or 2.27%, to $102.32 a barrel.Prices had initially climbed more than 3% at the market open. Brent rose $3.62, or 3.46%, to $108.23 a barrel by 2214 GMT on Sunday, while WTI increased $3.15, or 3.15%, to $103.20 a barrel.Saudi state media on Sunday released footage showing damage to homes and a mosque in the southern Jazan province following what it described as a Houthi attack. The Iran-aligned Houthis also said they had targeted a Saudi military base in a neighbouring province.Separately, a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz was struck by a projectile, causing a fire and forcing its crew to evacuate, the British maritime security agency UKMTO said.Iran said one person was killed and four crew members were wounded after an Iranian commercial vessel was struck off the country’s coast.Oil prices were expected to rise after Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline was shut on Friday following a drone attack originating in Iraq.The pipeline allows Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, to reroute shipments and avoid the Strait of Hormuz. Its shutdown threatens up to 4% of global oil supply.Meanwhile, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis reached the strategic island of Perim on Friday, tightening their position near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, another key oil transit route that has carried 4-5% of global supply in recent months.Oil prices have risen around 8% over the past week, crossing $100 a barrel for the first time since July, as escalating tensions in the Middle East raised concerns over global supplies.The Strait of Hormuz remained at the centre of the confrontation. Nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil passed through the strategic waterway before the war began, with both the United States and Iran seeking to exert control over it.Oman postponed a scheduled meeting with Iran and other regional countries on Monday to discuss the management of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.Omani foreign minister Badr Albusaidi said on X that the meeting had been postponed “in the interests of consensus”. Mohammad Ali Bak, an official in Iran’s foreign ministry quoted by IRNA, said the talks were postponed “at the request of some regional countries”.The meeting was expected to focus on efforts by Iran and Oman, which lies on the other side of the strait, to manage shipping through the key waterway.No peace talks have taken place in the war, which began six months ago with US and Israeli strikes, since an interim agreement reached in June collapsed after a few weeks.