Yemen Houthi Rebels Attack Another Cargo Ship
January 4, 2024
Headlines out of the Middle East appear to be the drivers of yesterday’s jump in energy prices. Houthi rebels attacked another cargo ship in the Red Sea, and there was a reported terrorist attack in Iran that killed 100 people. The increased war activities between Israel and Hamas and Lebanon also supported the move higher in prices. Also, out of Libya came the news that their largest oil field was being shut down due to a protect. These events lead to crude oil prices being up 3% on the day.
The API inventory report was also supportive of crude oil prices with crude oil stocks called down 7.4 million barrels. Gasoline inventories were up 6.9 million barrels and distillates were up 6.7 million barrels.
The Middle East concerns were the news of the day that put a pop in prices and now the market will see how today’s DOE inventory report comes out and continue to monitor the Middle East.