Asia’s oil buyers face US$100-per-barrel risk as Houthis threaten Saudi blockade

A Houthi blockade could disrupt Saudi oil flows through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, leaving Asian buyers with fewer options Analysts said any serious disruption in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could leave Asia with fewer alternatives for Middle Eastern crude, threatening Saudi shipments and increasing the risk of oil prices rising above US$100 per barrel again. In a statement on Monday, the Houthis said the blockade threat was retaliation for what they described as Saudi Arabia’s 12-year restrictions on the movement of food, medicine and other essential goods through Yemeni crossings, ports and airports, as well as the plundering of local resources. A full closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern gateway to the Red Sea, could disrupt petroleum flows of about 7.4 million barrels per day, or roughly 7 per cent of global oil output, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters. The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen vowed to respond firmly to threats against commercial shipping and said it had begun implementing measures to protect vessels transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

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