Crude oil prices edged higher as Houthis vowed to retaliate after the U.S. and U.K. launched strikes against the group’s targets in Yemen in response to attacks from the group on shipping vessels that destabilized trade routes in the Red Sea and disrupted global supply.
“America and Britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression,” Houthi senior official Hussein al-Ezzi wrote on a Google-translated X (formerly Twitter).
Meanwhile, other Houthi officials called the attack by western countries unjustified and barbaric. They threatened to increase attacks on Israeli ships or vessels heading to the occupied Palestinian territories.
The comment came after the U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced 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.
Oil prices rose further on Friday with the international benchmark Brent crude gained $2.80 or 3.62% to $80.21 a barrel and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose $2.74 or 3.80% to $74.76 per barrel.
