Brent crude settles at $109.55 a barrel on Monday
Brent crude dipped to $109.55 a barrel on Monday following Houthi attacks on Saudi energy facilities as Gulf crude flows dropped sharply.
- Brent crude futures settled down 0.3% at $109.55 a barrel, a slight decrease attributed to investors taking profits after a recent five-month high.
- The price drop occurred despite escalating geopolitical tensions, including fresh Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian energy and military sites.
- Market pressures that would typically raise prices, such as a sharp drop in Gulf crude flows and shipping disruptions, did not prevent the minor decline.
- In contrast to Brent's fall, the U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), rose 2.2% to settle at $103.66 a barrel.
Brent crude futures settled down 31 cents, or 0.3%, at $109.55 a barrel on Monday in New York as investors locked in profits following a five-month high, even as Yemen's Houthi movement launched fresh attacks against energy and military sites in Saudi Arabia.
Houthi Strikes Target Saudi Energy Facilities
Monday's attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis struck multiple locations across Saudi Arabia, including an Aramco facility in Yanbu, the Shaybah oilfield, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, and Abha airport.
Saudi authorities did not immediately issue official confirmations regarding the claims, and the reports could not be independently verified.
The strikes followed an earlier assault in Yemen's Shabwa province that killed 53 people and injured 200 at a government security force training camp.
Plunging Gulf Crude Flows and Maritime Risks
Commercial shipping through regional chokepoints faced severe disruptions last week. Analytics firm Kpler reported that Gulf crude flows dropped to a seven-day average of about 8.5 million barrels per day, down sharply from more than 20 million barrels per day the previous week.
The steep decline followed at least 10 confirmed incidents involving commercial vessels, including an oil tanker that caught fire and exploded after striking a naval mine in the southern Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
Diverging Benchmark Performance and US Policy
While Brent edged lower, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) bucked the trend, gaining $2.25, or 2.2%, to settle at $103.66 a barrel—its highest settlement since September 15.
However, WTI trading remained relatively thin ahead of the front-month contract expiry on October 20.
Markets also weighed a recent executive order signed by US President Donald Trump waiving certain sanctions and tariffs on Russian energy exports, a move analysts noted aims to lower fuel prices ahead of the November 3 US midterm elections despite uncertainty over its implementation.
