ALBAWABA – As the Israeli war on Gaza intensifies day after another, Yemeni Houthis attacks against cargo ships with ties to Israel crossing the Red Sea are heating up more, reflecting investors’ hesitancy towards Crude Oil prices, which come after the Houthis announced earlier their plans to target ships crossing through Bab Al Mandab canal towards Israel until the bombardment in Gaza is put to an end.
Yesterday, the military spokesman for the Houthis announced the targeting of the Israeli ship MSC Silver in the Aden Gulf Bay with rocket missiles, as well as a number of American warships in the Red Sea, which reflected in Oil price surge, with Brent Oil rising 30 cents towards $82.64 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures took 26 cents increase at $77.3.
Tuesday saw a 1.5% and 1.4% decline in the Brent and WTI contracts, respectively, from their close to three-week highs as the spread between immediate US oil futures and the second-month contract exceeded twofold to $1.71 per barrel, according to Reuters, the highest level in almost four months.
This incentivizes energy firms to sell now instead of incurring storage costs for later months, Reuters adds, with the surcharges dropped to 4 cents per barrel on Wednesday.
A proposal for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire, brought by Algeria, was blocked as Washington once more rejected with a veto a draft resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict by the UN Security Council. Instead, the United States is asking the Security Council to approve a motion that links a cease-fire to Hamas's release of Israeli captives.
