Oil prices climbed Wednesday as threats of escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia weighed on trader sentiment, offsetting gains from recovering crude supplies in the region.
Brent crude futures for December delivery rose 0.93% to $101.52 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for November advanced 0.81% to $90.16 per barrel, according to CNBC Finance.
Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline had restored flows to 5.8 million barrels as of Tuesday morning, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said. The recovery signals improving supply conditions after prior disruptions.
Yet geopolitical tensions offset this relief. Saudi Arabia's aviation authority reported Tuesday that airports in Jazan and Najran faced attacks from Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis. The militant group has demonstrated the ability to strike oil facilities hundreds of kilometers from the Yemen-Saudi border, analysts noted.
Iran's escalated attacks on tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz have added to supply concerns. The waterway handles a critical share of global oil exports, and renewed hostilities threaten to disrupt the fragile rebound in flows through it.
Naeem Aslam, chief investment officer of Zaye Capital Markets, described oil as "caught between improving physical supply and persistent geopolitical risk."
Samer Hasn, senior market analyst at forex platform XS.com, warned that Houthi capability remains a central threat. "The sustained ability of the Houthis in Yemen to target oil facilities hundreds of kilometers from the border keeps the risks of a renewed large-scale crude supply disruption present and high, and these risks could worsen if the Houthis feel the need to apply more pressure as a result of losing more territory," Hasn said Tuesday.
Oil traders face a narrowing window. Physical supplies are recovering, but political and military pressure in the Middle East creates genuine uncertainty over whether that recovery can hold.