Houthi Blockade Sparks Global Oil Market Panic, Spot Brent Surges to $100

The Houthi blockade of the Bab al-Mandab chokepoint has triggered panic in the global oil markets, causing spot Brent to surge to $100 a barrel.

The Houthis violated their 2022 truce with Saudi Arabia by hitting two Saudi-flagged tankers and launching drone and missile attacks on the East-West pipeline terminus port of Yanbu, which accounts for 90 percent of seaborne Saudi oil exports.

Saudi Arabia has put the IRGC on notice that it will retaliate against aggression, and is seeking to form a 43-country naval coalition to break the Houthi blockade.