Oil prices settled higher on Thursday as a tanker with Iraqi crude was seized by Iran in retaliation for the confiscation of the same vessel last year, intensifying the conflict in the Middle East. Brent rose by 0.8% to $77.41 per barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) increased by 0.9% to $72.02 a barrel.
Both benchmarks grew higher than $2 a barrel earlier in the session before sliding backward as a result of a surprise surge in U.S. inflation and reports on China regarding the reduced imports from Saudi Arabia.
As for this morning at 9.30 AM (Bangkok Time), Brent edged up by 1.96% to $78.93 a barrel, and WTI jumped by 2.05% to $73.5 per barrel.
The U.S. and the U.K. signaled cautious gestures as they pondered to push further measures if the attacks continued. Moreover, the United Nations Security Council also passed a resolution, which stated the demand to end the attacks from the Houthis.
The U.S. President Joe Biden earlier stated that Washington and the U.K. jointly initiated a strike against Houthi targets in Yemen.
“Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces — together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands — successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways,” Biden said in the statement.
Meanwhile, Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, the Houthi’s leader, threatened an even bigger strike than drones and missiles if there were any intervention or attack toward the group.
The World Court accused Israel of genocide in the war in Gaza after its residents returned to their home to face nothing but massive destructions.
The attack on merchant vessels in the Red Sea had also caused the global trade to drop by 1.3% from November to December 2023 as it reduced the volumes of transported cargo in the region.
