\n Anything that jeopardizes Saudi oil flows out of the Red Sea will put more upward pressure on global oil prices, said Richard Bronze, co-founder and head of geopolitics at research firm Energy Aspects.\n <\/p>\n
\n As many as 4.6 million barrels per day were loaded onto vessels at Yanbu over the past two weeks \u2014 more than three times the average over 2025, according to shipping data firm Vortexa.\n <\/p>\n
\n That is small compensation for the 15 million barrels the world is missing out on every day the Strait of Hormuz remains shut. But those 4.6 million barrels are enough to rattle supply and, in an extremely sensitive global oil market, choking off another critical trade route would raise oil prices further and trigger or exacerbate<\/a> local fuel shortages.\n <\/p>\n \n In late 2023, Houthi militants<\/a> based in Yemen began attacking commercial vessels passing through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait \u2014 located at the southern tip of the Red Sea and meaning \u201cGate of Tears\u201d in Arabic \u2014 in retaliation for Israel\u2019s war in Gaza. The attacks prompted shipping companies to use a longer route, adding weeks onto journeys and forcing them to spend more<\/a> on fuel, insurance and seafarers\u2019 wages.\n <\/p>\n \n Over the first 28 days of March, the amount of crude oil transiting the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait jumped by 21% compared with February, according to Vortexa. Those shipments are now potential targets for renewed Houthi attacks.\n <\/p>\n \n The price of Brent, the global oil benchmark, has soared by about 50% since the Iran war started on February 28 to trade around the $110-a-barrel level Monday.\n <\/p>\n \n If the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait also becomes too dangerous for tankers to cross, Brent is \u201cvery likely\u201d to surge past $150 a barrel over the next few months, which is sooner than currently forecast, according to Artem Abramov, head of oil and natural gas research at Rystad Energy, a consultancy.\n <\/p>\n \n The waterway\u2019s closure will \u201cjust break the system much faster,\u201d he told CNN Monday. \u201cEven the very threat of Red Sea closure is likely to impose continuous upward pressure on insurance, freight and ultimately most oil price benchmarks in the next days.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The Houthis officially entered the war Saturday, when they fired two missiles toward Israel. The day before, Mohammed Mansour, deputy information minister in the Houthi government, told CNN that closing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait \u201cis a viable option, and the consequences will be borne by the American and Israeli aggressors.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The Houthis have a range of weapons, including drones and anti-ship missiles, posing enormous risk to ships passing the strait.\n <\/p>\n \n To avoid the waterway, oil tankers leaving Yanbu \u2014 with the vast majority bound for Asia \u2014 would need to take a more circuitous and vastly longer route, travelling up through the Suez Canal at the northern tip of the Red Sea, west through the Mediterranean Sea, swooping down the western coast of Africa and across the Indian Ocean.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIf the Houthis start to threaten vessels then, at a minimum, this will add several weeks to the voyage times to Asia,\u201d Bronze at Energy Aspects told CNN. \u201cThat would deepen the crude supply crunch in Asia.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Asia is bearing the brunt of the global oil supply shock. The region relies on the Middle East for about 60% of its oil, and governments have taken measures to conserve energy during the crisis.\n <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2268213244-20260330114213976.jpg\")
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