Oil holds above $100 on threat of Saudi supply disruption

• Houthis capture Mokha port city
• Red Sea safe ‘except for Saudi ships’
• Vessel attacks continue in Hormuz

Oil prices held above $100 a barrel in early Friday trading after the Iran-backed Houthis captured Yemen’s Mokha port city, raising the threat of disruptions to Saudi oil supplies through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Brent crude futures rose 1 percent to $108.68 a barrel by 00:45 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude also gained 1 percent to $103.45 a barrel.

Both benchmarks climbed more than 6 percent on Thursday.

The Houthis captured Mokha on Thursday, officials and residents said. The city, about 60km north of the narrowest point of the strait, had been controlled by forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government.

Red Sea navigation is safe for all shipping companies except Saudi vessels, Reuters reported, quoting a statement from the Houthi-run humanitarian operations coordination centre.

Saudi Arabia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdulaziz Alwasil, warned that the Houthi attacks threaten not only the kingdom but also international navigation and trade in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the state-run SPA news agency reported.

He called on the UN Security Council to adopt a clear, firm stance on these attacks and fulfil its responsibility to maintain international peace and security.

The Houthis launched strikes this week against several civilian and economic facilities in the cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, injuring 73 civilians.

President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that the US may strike Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, near the damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility.

American forces hit three Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, including Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan.

Iran said it attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after the US hit five Iranian oil tankers, Reuters reported.

Further reading:

• Houthi capture of Mokha tightens grip on Red Sea
• Asia’s reliance on Gulf oil will outlast Hormuz disruption
• Lengthy Bab al-Mandab closure sets stage for fuel price crisis

Vessels transiting through the strait fell to seven on Thursday from 11 the previous day, the agency said, citing Kpler preliminary ship-tracking data.

Meanwhile, Opec cut its projections for global oil demand growth to 380,000 barrels per day in 2026, its fifth consecutive downward revision.

Escalation in the US-Iran conflict weighed on the Saudi and Dubai stock exchanges on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia’s main market index edged down 0.1 percent, despite heavyweight Aramco gaining.

The Dubai benchmark index declined 0.4 percent, while Abu Dhabi climbed 0.1 percent.