Oil prices gain on attacks in Saudi Arabia

Business Recorder reported that oil prices climbed on Wednesday after the Houthis struck an administrative building of Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, causing a limited fire. Brent crude futures added 87 cents, or 0.82 percent, to USD106.56 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate rose USD1.46 to USD95.60, a three-week peak. Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group tied the gains to ship attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and Saudi-Houthi clashes.

Iranian officials gave no specifics on a fresh approach to targeting vessels, though one said Tehran had changed its tactics roughly 10 days earlier. Gulf oil supply outside Iran recovered in September to above 81 percent of its pre-war level, driven chiefly by Saudi shipments, while Iranian exports fell to zero under a US blockade. Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen warned that more crude reaching buyers does not automatically mean greater output, since part of the rebound reflects barrels that would otherwise have gone to regional refineries.

A container ship sank near the Strait of Hormuz after it struck a mine and caught fire, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said. The International Energy Agency said Russian crude output rose by 65,000 barrels a day in September to 8.43 million. The agency also said diesel supplies could stay tight into next year, with the recent easing of export curbs unlikely to change the balance materially.