Oil Rebounds After Houthis Claim Saudi Tanker Attack
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- Yemen's Houthis claimed a missile attack on a Saudi oil tanker off the coast of Yanbu, a key port for Saudi crude exports; Saudi officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment
- Brent crude rose $1.07 (1.35%) to $80.43 per barrel by 0734 GMT, while WTI gained 45 cents (0.59%) to $76.22
- Oil had dropped 5% on Tuesday after Qatar said mediators were making progress to end the war — Brent closed below $80 for the first time since July 13
- Iran denied that peace talks were under way, directly contradicting assertions by President Trump that negotiations were happening
- U.S. crude inventories rose by about 2.7 million barrels in the week to July 31, according to American Petroleum Institute data, while distillate stocks fell
- China further relaxed controls on fuel exports in August, adding supply-side pressure on top of the rising U.S. stockpiles
- Before the war began, approximately 20% of the world's oil and LNG transited through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint central to any de-escalation calculus
Why it matters: The single-day whipsaw demonstrates how fragile any peace-driven price decline is when Red Sea tanker traffic remains actively threatened — Tuesday's rally was built entirely on one Qatari mediator's reported progress, which Iran now publicly denies. With U.S. crude stockpiles up 2.7 million barrels and China loosening fuel export curbs simultaneously, the supply side is quietly building pressure that a single unverified Houthi missile claim can momentarily mask.
