Oil Prices Skyrocket Amid Saudi Pipeline Shutdown and Escalating Middle East Tensions
Oil prices surged above $107 per barrel on Monday as escalating attacks in the Middle East forced Saudi Arabia to shut its major east-west crude pipeline, intensifying fears of further disruption to an already strained global energy market.
The latest rise came as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi forces stepped up attacks against Saudi Arabia and seized the strategic island of Perim in the Bab al-Mandab strait on Sunday.
The Bab al-Mandab strait connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and is a critical route for vessels transporting oil and other commodities between the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
Oil traders are also watching developments around the Strait of Hormuz, another crucial energy chokepoint, where roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and gas normally passes through the waterway.