Oil prices climb back above $100 a barrel after falling below that level earlier this year, as escalating conflict in the Middle East raises concerns about disruption to key shipping routes for crude supply. According to reporting from multiple outlets, the benchmark increases follow a sharp move on Thursday, after the price was around $95 a barrel the previous day.
Both sources link the rise to heightened fears of interruptions affecting transport lanes in and around the Red Sea and the wider region. The Guardian notes concerns that Yemen’s Houthi militia could interfere with Saudi oil exports through the Red Sea, while also pointing to intensifying US–Iran tensions over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. ABC Australia similarly connects the price jump to the threat to a vital shipping route as the conflict widens, describing the region as being on high alert.
Overall, the reports attribute the oil market’s move to renewed geopolitical risk around maritime chokepoints that carry significant volumes of global oil and related flows, rather than to changes in supply or demand outside the region.
