As Traders Consider the risk of Saudi supplies and the influx of Russian diesel Oil Prices Rise

TOKYO: Oil prices rose on Wednesday as traders balanced the possibility of more diesel coming from Russia against the supply risk from war between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, who are aligned with Iran in Yemen.

By 00:30 GMT, US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 80 cents, or 0.9%, to $94.94, while Brent crude futures rose 89 cents, or 0.8%, to $106.58 per barrel. On Tuesday, WTI increased 0.4% while Brent decreased 0.9%. Prices are rising on supply concerns driven by the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, according to chief strategist Hiroyuki Kikukawa of Nissan Securities Investment, a division of Nissan Securities. Kikukawa predicted that WTI will trade between $90 and $100 per barrel, but the anticipation that additional Russian diesel supplies will reduce market tightness is expected to restrict dramatic price movement in either direction.

According to Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry on Wednesday, the Houthis attacked an administrative building in the city of Dhahran that belonged to the state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco, starting a small fire.

Over the past week, the group has attacked Saudi Arabia with drones and ballistic missiles in retribution for the kingdom’s backing of Yemeni government forces. There have been four attacks on Riyadh’s international airport, including one on Saturday that claimed 13 lives.

OPEC+ the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and partners, including Russia, saw a significant boost in output last month as Saudi Arabia increased oil production despite shipment disruptions from the US-Iran confrontation, OPEC said on Tuesday.

According to two senior Iranian officials who spoke to Reuters, Iran is using new strategies to target ships in the Strait of Hormuz in an effort to maintain high oil prices and sway the US midterm elections.

Also Read:

Houthi Assaults in Saudi Arabia Have Killed a Pilot, a Flight Attendant and a Widowed Mother

Meta Rolls out Muse Wonder AI Models to Take on Anthropic and OpenAI