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Oil prices \u200brose to a six-week high on Tuesday after Houthis in Yemen attacked Saudi energy facilities, setting oil installations ablaze and threatening a \u200cmajor expansion of the six-month-old Middle East war.<\/strong><\/p>\n Brent crude futures rose 70 cents, or 0.7%, to $97.70 a barrel at 10:56 a.m. EDT (1456 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.21, or 1.3%, to $92.69. That puts Brent on track for its highest close since July 23 and WTI on track for its highest close since June 4.<\/span><\/p>\n The Houthis attacked four cities in the south of U.S.-ally Saudi \u200bArabia on Tuesday, wounding more than 70 people. Houthi-controlled media reported later on Tuesday that Saudi warplanes had carried out four airstrikes in Yemen\u2019s Jubah \u200bdistrict east of the capital Sanaa.<\/span><\/p>\n Oil exports from the Gulf region have been severely impaired since Iran attacked energy infrastructure in the region \u2060and ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz following joint strikes from the U.S. and Israel in late February.<\/span><\/p>\n Saudi Arabia, the world\u2019s second-biggest crude producer behind the \u200bU.S., has been circumventing the strait by shipping oil west to the Red Sea. The attacks on Saudi Arabia, however, appear to be among the biggest carried out against \u200bthat nation, and threaten to worsen the war\u2019s global economic effect by disrupting Middle East energy supplies beyond the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe price action reflects both genuine physical tightness \u2014 tanker flows through Hormuz remain well below normal \u2014 and a clear geopolitical risk premium. Right now the risk premium is doing a lot of the heavy lifting,\u201d said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst \u200bat KCM Trade.<\/span><\/p>\n Wall Street is also coming to grips with the likelihood that Middle East shipping disruptions will continue into 2027. Goldman Sachs and HSBC raised their crude price \u200bforecasts for the rest of 2026 and 2027.<\/span><\/p>\n The number of commodity vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz totaled seven on Monday, compared with eight on the previous day, Kpler data \u200cshowed on \u2060Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n Global fuel prices remain high as well due to disruptions at refineries around the world, especially in the Middle East and Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n In the U.S., diesel prices reached record highs last week, and Americans faced record-high gasoline prices over the Labor Day holiday weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n Senior industry executives predicted global diesel supply will remain tight through winter due to a lack of spare refining capacity, Russia\u2019s ban on exports following attacks \u200bby Ukraine and the approach of peak \u200bwinter demand.<\/span><\/p>\n In China, the world\u2019s second-biggest economy \u2060behind the U.S., crude oil imports in August improved from July, but volumes were down 23.4% from a year earlier, according to customs data released on Tuesday. China has restricted refined oil product exports since March to safeguard domestic supplies even \u200bas domestic consumption fell because of higher prices.<\/span><\/p>\n Oil prices pared some of their gains after U.S. President Donald Trump told \u200bRussian President Vladimir Putin on \u2060Tuesday in a phone call that he wanted a swift end to the war in Ukraine, though Trump has floated that notion on numerous occasions since returning to the White House in early 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n Russia was the world\u2019s third-biggest crude oil producer behind the U.S. and Saudi Arabia in 2025, according to U.S. energy data, and is a member \u2060of the OPEC+ \u200bgroup of producing countries.<\/span><\/p>\n