Oil prices exceed $105 after Houthis seize Mocha
Oil prices rose on September 10 after the Houthis seized the Yemeni port of Mocha near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Brent increased by 4.12% to $105.4 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 4.29% to $100.20 per barrel.
Control over the port of Mocha
According to The National, the seizure of Mocha strengthened the control of the group, which the outlet describes as backed by Iran, over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait area. About 10% of global oil supplies pass through this waterway.
Sasha Foss, an energy market analyst at CSC Commodities, a Marex division, said that the Houthis’ seizure of strategic sites, including Mocha and Mayyun Island, is causing concern in the oil market. According to her, this threatens shipping flows to and from the Red Sea, while the Strait of Hormuz is already partially blocked.
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Risks to shipping
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is of particular importance to Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer. Most Saudi oil exports to Asian markets pass through this channel, which is about 20 kilometers wide.
The Houthis had previously declared a “maritime embargo” against Saudi Arabia and attacked vessels passing through the strait. After such attacks, the kingdom rerouted oil cargoes through the Mediterranean Sea. The outlet also reports that the number of vessels passing daily through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has declined amid escalating tensions.
At the end of April, oil prices rose to $126 per barrel during trading after US and Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s attacks on its neighbors in the Persian Gulf and Iraq. After peace talks, quotations fell, but rose again amid an exchange of missile and drone strikes between the United States and Iran.
