Oil prices surged past $100 a barrel on Thursday as a widening blockade of key shipping routes in the Middle East threatened to tighten global crude supplies already strained by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures rose $6.58, or 6.96 percent, to $100.65 a barrel, crossing the triple-digit threshold for the first time since late May. The jump came after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group declared a naval blockade on shipments from Saudi Arabia and attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Bab el-Mandeb strait.
The Houthis said they would target Saudi, Israeli, and United States-linked tankers in the Bab el-Mandeb, the chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. One of the two vessels was set ablaze in the attack, according to a Saudi news agency report, while the fate of the second tanker remained unclear.
Marine analysis firm Windward said the enforcement of the blockade appeared to be calibrated to vessel affiliation rather than cargo. Chinese-owned tankers loading at the Saudi port of Yanbu have so far been allowed to pass, but the situation remains fluid and unpredictable.
“The Houthis are quite mercurial and there is no complete clarity on what the blockade means,” said Michelle Bockmann, senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward. She noted that Houthi actions have historically been difficult to anticipate, but the group understands that relatively minor disruptions can move global oil markets.
The Bab el-Mandeb disruption compounds an even more severe supply constraint: the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil transited before the US-Israel military campaign against Iran. That waterway remains effectively shut, cutting off major crude exports from Iran and much of the Gulf region.
Rachel Ziemba, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said the situation is unprecedented because multiple chokepoints are under threat simultaneously. “The multiple chokepoints are new and an example of littoral states looking to use their leverage,” she said.
Oil analysts warned that crude buffers have not been replenished after the peak summer driving season, leaving the market vulnerable to further price spikes if the disruptions persist. Brent crude has risen by more than 35 percent since the start of the Iran conflict in June.
The price surge is feeding through to consumers worldwide. Petrol prices at the pump have risen sharply in the United States, Europe, and Asia, adding to inflationary pressures that central banks are still struggling to contain. The European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve have both signaled they are monitoring energy costs closely.
For importing nations across Asia and Africa, the higher oil bill is straining current account balances and forcing governments to increase fuel subsidies or pass on costs to consumers. Several developing economies have already seen transportation costs spike, pushing up food prices.
Diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire in the Iran conflict or a partial reopening of the Strait of Hormuz have so far made little progress. US officials have said they are exploring naval escort operations, but the scale of the disruption makes a quick resolution unlikely.
The Houthi blockade adds a new dimension to the crisis. The group had largely spared Chinese-linked vessels during the earlier Red Sea campaign between 2023 and 2025, and Windward tracking showed two Chinese-crewed tankers loaded with Saudi crude passing through Bab el-Mandeb without interdiction on July 20. But the overall pattern remains one of escalating risk for oil shipments.
Oil markets are now pricing in a sustained period of elevated prices, with futures curves showing backwardation across most maturities, a sign that traders expect supply to remain tight for months to come.