West Texas Intermediate reached $100 a barrel in Tokyo trading on Friday, October 23, up 53 cents, Gulf News reported, citing OilPrice.com. Brent stood at $113.60 and Murban rose $4.20, or 3.81 percent, to $114.40. Brent's Thursday settlement was its highest since May 4.
The main driver was escalating fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis. Saudi Aramco ordered the evacuation of its Dhahran headquarters on Thursday, although the report noted that this did not show that production had stopped. The Houthis pushed toward Bab Al-Mandab, the chokepoint at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. In Libya, a closed pipeline valve reduced output at the Hamada and Tahara fields.
According to the report, traders are watching for actual damage to energy infrastructure, further shipping disruption and the speed of the Libyan recovery. It also described discussions in Japan on reducing gasoline subsidies as early as December.
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Gulf News — insurance ↗This is an original summary of the linked report, selected by our GCC market monitor. Facts are attributed to the publication.