Brent Climbs to $94 as Houthis Target Israeli Vessels in Red Sea

(RTTNews) - Crude oil prices have slumped on Friday, extending the losses from yesterday's session as confidence on reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days persists following announcements of an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire and progress in U.S.-Iran talks.

Saudi Arabia has slashed the official selling prices of its crude loading in July to customers in Asia, Europe, and the United States, in a widely expected second consecutive monthly cut amid weakening demand and narrowing spot Middle East crude premiums.   Saudi oil giant Aramco has reduced the price of its flagship Arab Light crude loading for Asia in July by $6 per barrel, setting it at a premium of $9.50 per barrel over the average Oman/Dubai prices, the benchmark for Middle East oil, a...

OPEC+ this Sunday decided to add another 188,000 barrels of crude to its collective production next month despite the ongoing disruption in the Middle East resulting from the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran. The group has approved a series of output hikes totaling close to 600,000 barrels daily since April, but this has remained largely on paper as a lot of big producers in the Middle East cannot restore production to pre-war levels due to the continued blockage in the Strait of Hormuz. The...

Oil prices started the week higher after Iran launched ballistic missiles at Israel on Sunday night, heightening fears that U.S.-Iran peace talks might once again fall apart. At the time of writing, Brent crude had climbed 2.51% to $95.43 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate had gained 2.34% to trade at $92.66 per barrel. Sunday's missile salvo marks the first direct Iranian attack on Israel since a ceasefire between the two countries took effect in April. The strikes came just hours after...

Persian Gulf oil exporters are scrambling to reroute their crude from ports to pipelines to keep the world running and keep their oil money flowing and fueling their economies. Sanction waivers abound. Venezuela’s oil output has shot up to 1.25 million barrels daily. The world of energy after the end of the war in the Middle East will be a very different one from what we’ve become accustomed to over the last five years. When the United States and Israel first fired on Iran, the overwhelming...

Fresh strikes on Kuwait and Oman undermine hopes of a U.S.-Iran de-escalation, keeping oil markets on edge and traders skeptical of diplomatic progress. Friday, June 05, 2026 This week’s strikes on Kuwait and the Friday morning attack on Oman have dented hopes for a de-escalation between US and Iran following the much-publicized Israel-Lebanon ceasefire. Whilst Oman’s main port is reportedly up and running again, capping ICE Brent around the $95 per barrel mark, most global crude benchmarks...

Media reports about a blast disrupting oil loadings at Oman’s main terminal pushed benchmark prices higher earlier today, in the latest sign that any hopes about an end to Persian Gulf hostilities is probably premature. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $95.37 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate was changing hands for $93.04 per barrel on the futures market, modestly up on Thursday, when prices dropped on reports about a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Later news...

Russia is preparing to sharply reduce crude oil exports this month as mounting refinery disruptions, fuel shortages, and Ukraine’s bombing campaign force Moscow to divert more barrels into the domestic market. Exports from Russia’s western ports of Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk are expected to fall to roughly 1.7 million barrels per day in June from 2.5 million bpd in May calculations based on preliminary industry and trading data. The decline comes as Russia seeks...

Automotive fuel sales in the Eurozone slumped by the most in two and a half years in April as drivers reduced gasoline and diesel purchases as prices jumped in the wake of the Iran war. Sales of automotive fuel in specialized stores declined in the Eurozone by 3.5% in April from a year earlier, while the EU sales of motor fuel fell by 2% year over year, data from Eurostat, the EU statistics office, showed. The flop in Eurozone fuel sales was the steepest since October 2023, and was the first...

The disruption of Middle Eastern crude supplies through the Strait of Hormuz has forced Chinese refiners to delay or indefinitely postpone 500,000 barrels per day of refining capacity, creating one of the first major downstream impacts of the Iran war outside the Gulf region, Reuters reported on Monday. The delays affect a 300,000-bpd refinery being developed by Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Co. in northeastern China and a planned 200,000-bpd restart at PetroChina’s Dalian refinery. Both projects...

Israel hit a petrochemical plant in southwestern Iran early on Monday, the first direct energy strike on Iranian territory since the April 8 ceasefire, as hostilities in the Middle East rapidly escalated during the weekend. Israel and Iran traded missile strikes on Sunday, with Iran targeting Israel and Israel retaliating on Iranian targets. The escalation swiftly led to a 5% spike in oil prices early on Monday in Asian trade amid market fears that a U.S.-Iran deal is becoming increasingly...

The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve has taken a beating during the Iran war, but Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the government's emergency oil stash is headed for a surprisingly lucrative refill. Companies that borrowed crude from the SPR during the conflict will return those barrels with premiums attached, leaving the reserve about 40 million barrels larger than it would have been otherwise once the war ends, Wright said Friday. For an oil market accustomed to hearing about SPR drawdowns,...