Oil prices jump as Houthis launch drone attack on Saudi oil pumps
Oil prices shot up today after Houthi fighters attacked two pumping stations near Riyadh with drones, the second sabotage against Saudi oil production in days.
Explosive-laden drones hit the sites earlier today, Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih said this morning.
Read more: Attack on Saudi tankers pushes up oil prices
Despite assurances that the attacks have not disrupted production or exports of oil, Brent crude rose 1.4 per cent on the day to 71.25, after trading down slightly earlier this morning.
Saudi Arabia has been at war with the Houthis in Yemen over the past four years, creating a humanitarian crisis in the country.
On Sunday four ships off the coast of the United Arab Emirates were attacked, including two Saudi oil tankers, the UAE confirmed yesterday.
No further details have been released on the attack close to the Straits of Hormuz, a vital shipping channel.
Iran, which also backs the Houthis in Yemen, was immediately named as a prime suspect in the attacks on the ships, but sources told Reuters that US intelligence has no conclusive evidence that it was involved.
Pressure has been ramped up on Iran in recent months after US President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions which were lifted as part of a 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic republic and six other countries.
Saudi Arabia has said it would step in to fill some of the demand which will disappear from the market when countries are unable to buy Iranian crude. However the country said it would not act preemptively.
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Meanwhile Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean.
Around a fifth of oil used around the world is estimated to pass through the strait on its way to international markets.