Oil Hits a Six-Week High as War Chokes Two Sea Routes
Brent crude surged to a six-week high, jumping as much as 4 per cent to around $93 a barrel and spiking towards $95 during the session, as Washington talked down peace prospects and traders confronted a “dual-strait” threat. Iranian attacks have throttled the Strait of Hormuz to a trickle, while a fresh Houthi blockade menaces the Bab el-Mandeb, forcing tankers of Saudi crude bound for Asia to turn back towards Suez. US pump prices ticked up above $4 a gallon.
The move marks the sharpest energy shock since the war reignited, with the near-term Brent premium widening to its deepest since late May — a market signalling acute scarcity. Traders now watch two chokepoints at once: roughly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil normally passes Hormuz, while the Bab el-Mandeb has become the workaround route for Saudi barrels. Asian refiners are re-routing Red Sea cargoes around Africa, lengthening voyages and lifting freight costs. “The energy market now has the dual-strait worry,” one analyst noted. For British households the pressure feeds straight to forecourts and, in time, energy bills. Watch whether prices hold above $90 or spike further on a twelfth-night escalation.