Red Sea Lane Closure Causes Oil To Climb – 25 July, 2018

After an attack on two big oil tankers by Iran-aligned Houthi movement, Saudi Arabia, the worlds biggest oil exporter, temporarily shut down all oil shipments through a Red Sea shipping lane, causing prices to climb. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose over 1 percent and 5 cents to $69.35 per barrel, and Brent Crude futures rose 0.6 percent and 47 cents to $74.60 per barrel. Shipping through Bab al-Mandeb will be halted until the situation settles and is safe again. U.S. inventories, at their lowest levels since February 2015, fell 6.1 million barrels this week, 3.8 million barrels more than expected.