Oil prices rose on Wednesday after Iranian officials told Reuters they were using new tactics against ships, and the Houthis attacked a Saudi Aramco building.
In London, Brent crude was up 91 cents, or 0.9%, at $106.60 a barrel at 1110 GMT, Reuters reported. Later in New York, Brent was up 87 cents, or 0.82%, at $106.56 by 1:25pm ET.
US West Texas Intermediate rose $1.46, or 1.55%, to $95.60 a barrel. Reuters described that as a three-week high.
Iranian officials told Reuters that Iran was deploying new tactics to target ships, according to a separate Reuters report.
The officials declined to give details. One of them said Iran began using different offensive tactics about 10 days earlier.
Reuters said the aim was to keep oil prices high and to influence the US midterm elections. That account came from the Iranian officials, who were not named. No on-record Iranian statement and no US response had been reported.
Reuters did not name the ships or companies affected, and it gave no casualty figures for ships. The number of attacks was not stated.
Separately, the Houthis, a group allied with Iran, attacked an administrative building of state-owned Saudi Aramco in Dhahran. Saudi Arabia's energy ministry said the attack caused a limited fire.
The Houthis have fired ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia over the past week, according to Reuters. It said the group describes the attacks as retaliation for Saudi support of Yemeni government forces. Saudi Arabia had not been quoted on that explanation.
Riyadh's international airport has been hit four times. A strike on Saturday 10 October killed 13 people, Reuters reported.
Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at the bank UBS, told Reuters: "Attacks on ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz and military strikes between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis are supporting prices as market participants remain concerned about lower oil exports from the region."
Phil Flynn, a senior analyst at Price Futures Group, said traders were reacting out of concern. "We're seeing a lot of fear trade today," he told Reuters.
Ole Hansen, an analyst at Saxo Bank, said more crude reaching international markets did not necessarily mean more oil was being produced.
Reuters reported that Gulf oil flows, excluding Iran, rose in September to more than 81% of prewar levels. It said the recovery was led by Saudi exports.
Iranian exports fell to zero owing to a US blockade, according to Reuters. The report also refers to ongoing peace talks, but the material available gave no details of their terms or timing.
The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman. A large share of Gulf oil exports passes through it, which is why attacks on ships there can move oil prices.
The Houthis are an Iran-allied group that controls much of Yemen.
Reuters photo captions also mention a fire at an Aramco refinery south of Riyadh on 3 October. The cause was not stated in the reports reviewed.
US midterm elections are due in November. No further steps in the Hormuz situation had been reported.
Photo: Matthiasb; Kartographie von OpenStreetMap-Mitwirkenden. / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
