Oil prices rise after Houthi attack on Saudi tanker

Crude oil prices have risen and the United States’ stockpiles have dwindled following an attack by Yemen’s Houthis on a Saudi Arabian tankers, Bloomberg revealed yesterday.

“Oil prices on the London Stock Exchange have been heading towards the highest closing point in two weeks after an attack on Saudi Arabian tankers, raising concerns about its supplies,” Bloomberg said.

In the US, the company added, crude oil stocks fell last week to their lowest level since 2015, while refined oil supplies have fallen for the fourth consecutive week.

The drop in oil stocks and supply concerns have helped crude oil recover from some of its recent losses, which were triggered by the escalation in trade disputes between China and the US.

READ: Saudi Arabia suspends oil exports through Red Sea lane after Houthi attack

The US Department of Energy said yesterday that the country’s commercial oil reserves for the past week fell 6.1 million barrels to 404.9 million barrels. “This is the lowest level of UKS oil reserves since February of 2015,” the department pointed out.

The world’s top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, yesterday announced that it was “temporarily halting” all oil shipments through the strategic Red Sea shipping lane of Bab El-Mandeb after an attack on two big oil tankers by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement