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EMEA Oil Update: Crude Rallies as Houthi Red Sea Attacks Stoke Supply Risks

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EMEA crude futures rallied in after-hours trading on Thursday as Iran-backed Houthi rebels' attacks on crude tankers in the Red Sea and escalating tensions across the Middle East raised concerns over potential disruptions to energy flows.

Brent crude futures surged 6.6% to $100.3 per barrel, while Murban crude futures rallied 20% to $108.00/bbl.

Saxo Bank strategies said crude oil extended its rally after Iran-backed Houthi militants struck two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea.

President Trump said on Thursday that the US will punish Iran for any ship attacks by the Houthis, after the group targeted two Saudi Arabian vessels in the Red Sea, extending the Middle East conflict to a second major shipping chokepoint.

"If they do this again, the US will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a surrogate and/or proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis themselves," Trump said in a social media post on Truth Social.

Soojin Kim, research analyst at MUFG, said with about 4 million b/d of Saudi crude exports now transiting the Red Sea, any sustained disruption to the corridor could materially tighten global oil supplies.

Trump also reportedly said that the US was "considering a massive attack" against Iran.

Meanwhile, the US Central Command said it had completed a 12th consecutive night of attacks on Iranian targets, hours after Trump said the US would destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant each time Iran attacks a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

"US forces struck Iranian military targets including maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air defense assets," Centcom said in a post on X, adding that more than 50,000 US service members are operating across the Middle East.

Iran, in response, said it attacked US missile systems, weapons and fuel storage sites in Jordan, as well as US military posts in Kuwait.

Jordan's army said it engaged four Iranian missiles and six drones in the past 24 hours, intercepting all but one missile, which fell in an uninhabited area, while Kuwait's army said any explosions heard in the country were a result of air defense systems intercepting missiles and drones.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said an oil tanker caught fire after an explosion while attempting to follow a mined route in the southern area of the Hormuz near the coast of Oman and that two others had turned back.

Elsewhere, Ukraine has broadened attacks from Russian energy infrastructure to maritime operations, targeting vessels operating in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. RBC Capital Markets strategists said the campaign has disrupted operations at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's export terminal at Novorossiysk, a critical outlet for Kazakh crude.

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