Brent crude prices rose on Thursday after Saudi Arabia suspended its oil shipments through a key Red Sea strait in response to an attack on two of its tankers and as data showed U.S. inventories fell to a 3-1/2 year low. Brent crude futures had risen 55 cents to $74.48 a barrel by 0832 GMT, hitting a 10-day high and extending their rally into a third day. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were 4 cents lower at $69.26 barrel after two days of gains.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, said on Thursday that it was “temporarily halting” all oil shipments through the strategic Red Sea shipping lane of Bab al-Mandeb after an attack on two big oil tankers by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement. Saudi Arabia has a major export terminal in Ras Tanura – also home to the country’s largest refinery – on its eastern coast. It exports most of its crude on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.