Oil climbs toward $99 after Red Sea tanker attacks rattle markets
Brent and U.S. crude hit their highest levels since June after Houthi rebels claimed attacks on Saudi tankers near a key shipping route.
By Sal Moretti · Money Reporter
3 min read
Oil pushed close to triple digits Thursday after Houthi rebels said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, adding a fresh danger point to a conflict already squeezing global shipping.
Brent crude, a major global benchmark, rose more than 5% in early trading to nearly $99 a barrel, NBC News reported. That put it at its highest level since June 3. U.S. crude also moved sharply higher for a second straight day, climbing more than 4% to almost $91 a barrel, its highest mark since June 11.
The price jump followed claims by the Tehran-backed Houthis that they had targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea after announcing a naval blockade of the kingdom, according to NBC News. The reported attacks raised concern that ship strikes linked to the Iran war had moved beyond the area around the Strait of Hormuz.
The Red Sea route is watched closely because vessels use the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to move millions of barrels of oil a day toward international markets. NBC News reported that roughly 12% to 15% of seaborne global trade, worth more than $1 trillion annually, passes through the waterway.
The route has also been used as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has been largely frozen. Ship crossings there fell to single digits Tuesday, according to NBC News.
Oil has now climbed about 35% since the beginning of the month and more than 60% since the start of the year, NBC News reported. Drivers are feeling the move, too: AAA data tracked by NBC News showed the national average for gasoline at $4.09 a gallon Thursday, up from $4.06 Wednesday.
The rise has wiped out much of the relief that followed a memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and Iran in mid-June, NBC News reported. That agreement has since fallen apart. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant for every vessel attacked by Tehran, according to NBC News.
Hours after that threat, the Houthis claimed the Red Sea tanker strikes.
The U.K. Maritime Trade Office reported that a tanker north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait had been “struck by an unknown projectile.” Saudi Arabia’s state-run Saudi Press Agency said the Encelia caught fire after an overnight attack in the Red Sea, citing an unidentified General Authority of Transport source. The agency did not mention the Layla, NBC News reported.
Jim Reid, Deutsche Bank’s global head of macro research, said inflation was again dominating market attention, pointing to the move in Brent crude and fears that the conflict is spreading.
Bond markets also reacted. NBC News reported that the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield traded at 4.67% early Thursday, its highest level since January 2025. The average 30-year U.S. mortgage rate rose Wednesday to 6.77%, its highest since July 2025.
This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.