Brent crude oil near $98 after Irans Houthi allies attack multiple Saudi energy facilities

Oil prices rose Tuesday after Houthi militants allied with Iran attacked several energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, forcing a temporary halt to some operations.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, rose nearly 1% to $97.85 a barrel by 9 a.m. E.T. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures advanced 1.4% to $92.73 per barrel.

The Houthis targeted civilian and economic assets in the cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement. More than 70 civilians were injured in the attacks, it said.

The attacks caused fires at several energy facilities resulting in temporary shutdowns, the kingdom’s Energy Ministry said in a statement. Emergency services are working to contain fires at the sites and assess the extent of damage, the world’s largest oil exporter added.

Riyadh did not disclose what type of energy facilities were struck. Houthi state media said the group attacked Saudi Aramco facilities in southern areas with drones and ballistic missiles.

Saudi Arabia “affirms its legitimate right to take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty, safeguard its national assets, and protect the security and safety of its citizens and residents,” the Foreign Ministry said.

The attacks come after the U.S. military struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday in retaliation for Iranian ballistic missile attacks on two Navy warships. The Iranian Foreign Ministry denounced the attacks on commercial vessels as a “war crime” and an act of “economic warfare” in a statement on Saturday.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran continued to simmer. “Strike our assets and you get struck,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote Monday in a post on X.

That was in response to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s post who wrote that the U.S. “will destroy (and sink)” Iranian oil tankers if Iran fires on U.S. vessels.

Goldman Sachs on Monday raised its forecasts for Brent and WTI prices by $5 to $85 and $80 per barrel, respectively, for December 2026 and to $80 and $75 per barrel, respectively, for 2027.

The bank expects Mideast shipping disruptions to continue into 2027, with production gradually recovering by the second half of 2027. “Markets are increasingly pricing a prolonged Mideast conflict,” Goldman said, adding that Persian Gulf-to-China crude tanker rates in the second quarter of 2027 now price shipping disruptions lasting into that period.

President Donald Trump in a post on Monday stateside said that “Oil prices will drop precipitously … when we WIN the war with Iran.”

— CNBC’s Greg Iacurci contributed to the report.