Oil prices rose on Tuesday, extending recent gains as more Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia spurred increased concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East.

Talks between Iran and Gulf powers on reopening the Strait of Hormuz also remained on hold, adding to concerns over global supplies and keeping crude’s risk premium in play.

Brent Oil Futures rose 0.9% to $106.64 a barrel by 20:16 ET (00:16 GMT), while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.9% to $102.34 a barrel.

Houthis launch more strikes on Saudi Arabia
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on Monday launched more strikes against Saudi Arabia, as the group dug into key positions along the Red Sea.

Said positions also allowed the group to carry out more attacks on shipping through the Bab al-Mandab strait, threatening oil supplies in the region.

The Houthis attacked several targets in Saudi Arabia on Monday, further threatening the country’s oil exports after strikes last week took Riyadh’s east-west pipeline offline.

The Houthi offensive opened up a new front in the Middle Eastern conflict, with analysts estimating an additional 4% to 5% of global supplies could be disrupted from the development.

Iran Hormuz talks postponed, Tehran says no U.S. talks until conditions met
Oman on Sunday postponed a Monday meeting between Iran and Gulf states to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Muscat did not specify when the meeting would take place.

Flows through Hormuz remained at a fraction of pre-war levels, pointing to little improvement in global crude supplies. Iran said a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker was hit by sea mines as it passed through Hormuz, while U.S. Central Command said the report was false.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday repeated his frequent claim that Iran was seeking a peace deal. But Tehran denied Trump’s claims, stating that there would be no talks until the country’s conditions were met.

Hormuz remained a key point of focus in the conflict, given that it supplied about a fifth of the world’s oil prior to the U.S.-Iran war.

Source: Investing.com

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