After retaliatory Yemeni missile attacks against oil storage facilities in Saudi Arabia oil prices increased

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Crude oil prices have surged and broke the 120 US dollars level as reports of retaliatory missile and drone strikes by the Yemeni Armed Forces and allied fighters from Popular Committees against oil storage facilities in Saudi Arabia rekindled concerns over supply shortages.

Brent light crude oil for May delivery increased 1.62 dollars, or 1.4 percent, to close at 120.65 dollars per barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The West Texas Intermediate  (WTI) for May delivery also added 1.56 US dollars, or 1.4 percent, to settle at 113.90 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Both had dropped $3 earlier.

Both benchmarks notched their first weekly gains in three weeks - Brent rose more than 11.5% and WTI gained 8.8%.

The news added fuel to the already volatile oil market shadowed by supply risks related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), on Thursday, reiterated the IEA's willingness to release further oil from emergency reserves if necessary.

Birol added that the IEA member countries are seeking to radically reduce their imports of Russian oil and gas.

Spokesman for Yemeni armed forces said in a statement aired by the Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that Yemeni troops had carried out a large-scale offensive, dubbed Operation Breaking the Siege III, against a number of vital and sensitive targets deep inside Saudi Arabia, using domestically-developed ballistic and winged missiles as well as combat drones.

Brigadier General Yahya Saree stated that the Yemeni troops and their allies pounded high-value sites in the Saudi capital Riyadh, energy facilities in the strategic Jizan and Najran regions, as well as an Aramco's fuel distribution station in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah among others.

Yemeni Information Minister Zaifullah al-Shami said the retaliatory Yemeni missile and drone strikes on various targets in Saudi Arabia will continue as long as the Riyadh regime persists on its cruel siege on Yemen.

“The blazing flames in the invading countries are in response to the continuing siege of the Yemeni nation. They will be extinguished only through [complete] removal of the blockade,” Shami wrote in a post published on his Twitter page.



/129