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Brent crude passes $100 as wars in West Asia escalate
Yemeni missiles set Aramco facilities ablaze while US strikes on Iranian tankers draw Tehran's retaliation at sea
News Desk SEP 9, 2026 https://thecradle.co/
Oil prices shot up by 2.2 percent on 9 September, with Brent Crude benchmark prices surpassing $100 per barrel for the first time since July following the renewal of US attacks on Iran and Yemeni strikes on Saudi energy infrastructure.
WTI crude rose about 1.5 percent to roughly $94.5 per barrel, while Oman crude futures surged to around $116, and spot premiums rebounded to April-like levels.
West Asian exports have fallen to roughly 9 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude plus 1 million bpd of refined products, down from around 20 million before the war on Iran began on 28 February, Vitol CEO Russell Hardy said.
Iranian oil sales have collapsed under the US blockade, while Saudi shipments from the Red Sea port of Yanbu fell to a six-month low of 1.429 million bpd in August, from an average of 3.9 million bpd over the previous three months, as the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) enforce a naval blockade, according to provisional Kpler data.
“At the moment, it's telling us that physically things are incredibly tight,” said David Fyfe, chief economist at Argus.
“We've already got prices substantially above $100 a barrel and even more important, you've got a diesel market that is screaming shortage.”
European benchmark gas futures reached their highest level since January 2023, with the Dutch front-month contract gaining almost four percent to €78.73 ($91.57) per megawatt-hour.
Gas markets have been driven by the near-total halt in commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which has removed a fifth of the world's seaborne liquefied natural gas (LNG), most of it Qatari.
European buyers are now bidding against Asian utilities for uncommitted Atlantic cargoes with winter approaching.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that the Islamic Republic's restricted maritime zone now extends beyond the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
US forces destroyed five Iranian crude carriers, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM), and Iran responded with missile strikes on US destroyers and a base in Jordan.
The YAF struck Aramco facilities in Abha, Najran, and Jizan, along with Khamis Mushait Air Base, on 8 September, using dozens of ballistic missiles and drones, in retaliation for the brutal Saudi aggression.
The Saudi Energy Ministry confirmed fires at several locations and a temporary halt to operations.
