Oil Prices Surge Toward $100 Following Houthi Attack

In New York, oil prices climbed 2.4% as traders reacted to the escalating security threat in the Middle East. This upward pressure on crude benchmarks provided a lift for European energy giants, with TotalEnergies and Shell shares ticking higher in anticipation of upcoming quarterly earnings reports.

Beyond the immediate impact of the attack, structural shifts in supply are compounding market instability. Analysts at Kepler report that Iran’s shadow tanker fleet has exhausted its reserves by mid-October. The ongoing U.S. naval blockade has effectively severed the nation's primary export channel to Chinese refineries, leaving the Iranian economy increasingly isolated and struggling to maintain its customary crude outflows.