Houthis Strike ADNOC Tanker and Jazan Refinery as Brent Climbs Back Toward $90
Houthi strikes on ADNOC shipping and the Jazan refinery lifted ICE Brent crude front-month to $88.22, with Iran-Oman diplomatic talks yet to produce a deal.
ICE Brent crude front-month was trading at $88.22 a barrel as of Tuesday (2026-08-11), up more than 5% over the three preceding trading sessions, after Iran-backed Houthi forces claimed another attack on Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery and struck a tanker operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.6
The latest strikes come less than three weeks after the campaign had sent prices above triple digits. Front-month Brent for September delivery hit $100.69 a barrel on Thursday (2026-07-23), touching an intraday high of $101.01, after Houthis struck two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea — widening the disruption beyond the Strait of Hormuz into the Bab el-Mandeb passage.3
Brent had already gained more than 10% in the week of 2026-07-20, extending a 17.35% advance from the week of 2026-07-13, according to Trading Economics data. By late July, the benchmark was up nearly 30% over the preceding month.5
The Bab el-Mandeb passage handled roughly 5.4 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2026, per EIA figures. The Strait of Hormuz carries about a fifth of the world's oil supply and remained effectively disrupted during the same period.5,1
Kotak Securities analyst Kaynat Chainwala argued in late July that the combination of Hormuz, Red Sea, and Black Sea stress, with the Yanbu bypass route also under threat, made a sustained Brent move above $100 increasingly plausible.2
But the $100 level did not hold. ICE Brent front-month had retreated to around $85 a barrel as of Monday (2026-08-10) as traders positioned around potential progress in Iran-Oman negotiations over management of the Strait of Hormuz, erasing roughly 16% from the intraday high of $101.01 reached on Thursday (2026-07-23).6,3
No deal has emerged. The Houthis continued operations regardless, with the latest strikes on Jazan and the ADNOC tanker arriving without any sign of a diplomatic breakthrough.6
Goldman Sachs expected oil to retain most of its recent gains through July and August, according to reporting by RTE, supported by declining global inventories, lower Middle East production, and a slowdown in strategic petroleum reserve releases. Seasonal summer travel demand formed part of that bullish case.4
Yet storage signals elsewhere pushed back. The EIA recorded a surprise build of 1.4 million barrels in US crude stocks during the peak rally week. Bearish signals on Dubai crude and WTI front-month, both attributed to storage dynamics, suggest that physical inventories in some regions were absorbing the supply shock rather than amplifying it.5
WTI crude front-month stood at $83.23 a barrel as of Tuesday (2026-08-11), up around 1% on the day. Dubai crude was at $79.09 with no intraday change.6
The gap between current Brent levels and the $101 peak of late July reflects how rapidly sentiment can shift when diplomatic activity appears credible, even without a signed agreement. Physical flows remain the primary variable. Hormuz transit has not been fully restored, and any fresh escalation there, combined with the Houthi shift toward onshore refining targets that the Jazan strike represents, would close that gap faster than supply-demand fundamentals alone can support. Any binding commitment to emerge from the Iran-Oman talks is the most immediate check on further price moves in either direction.6,1