Oil Rises Above $115 and Gulf Stocks Fall After Houthis Say They Hit Saudi Arabia’s Largest Refinery
Yemen's Houthis said Tuesday they struck the Ras Tanura refinery with a ballistic missile, a claim Saudi authorities had not confirmed. Brent crude rose Wednesday and Gulf stock indexes fell as traders weighed supply risks.
Oil prices rose Wednesday after Yemen’s Houthis said on Tuesday that they had hit Saudi Arabia’s biggest oil refinery with a missile. Saudi authorities had not immediately confirmed the strike on the 550,000-barrel-per-day Ras Tanura facility, Reuters reported.
Brent crude futures rose $1.48, or 1.3%, to $115.36 a barrel as of 0140 GMT, Reuters reported. By 0735 GMT, Brent was at $115.90, up $2.02, or 1.8%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.22, or 1.22%, to $101.12 in the earlier report. Prices had dropped nearly $2 on Tuesday as talks in the Middle East helped ease supply worries, Reuters reported.
Gulf markets fell in early trade
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark stock index fell 1.3%, weighed down by a 1.6% slide in Al Rajhi Bank and a 1.3% decline in Saudi Aramco, Reuters reported. Dubai’s main share index fell 0.5%, with top lender Emirates NBD losing 0.9%. In Abu Dhabi, the benchmark index declined 1%, and the Qatari benchmark eased 0.2%.
The claim followed earlier attacks on Saudi oil pumping stations and Riyadh airport claimed by the Houthis in October. On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran to try to reduce regional tensions, Reuters reported.
Talks and the supply outlook
The OPEC+ oil-producing countries are expected to keep their December output targets steady on Sunday, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in line with market expectations. Production in most of the seven core OPEC+ members, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman, is below their output targets, Reuters reported.
Data expected to show a rise in U.S. crude inventories did not stop the increase. U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose by about 15,000 barrels in the week ended October 23, according to a poll of eight analysts by Reuters.
Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.
