Brent crude rises above $100 a barrel as Middle East conflict intensifies

Brent crude oil futures have surged past $100 a barrel, reaching a six-week high and breaching the symbolic threshold for the first time since July, due to escalating conflict in the Middle East. This price increase comes as hopes fade for a permanent resolution to the six-month-old U.S.-Iran conflict, with attacks by Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi energy facilities setting oil installations ablaze and threatening a significant expansion of the conflict.

The attacks also jeopardize crude shipments via the Red Sea, an alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz, where oil flows have been severely curtailed since the February 28 start of the Iran war. Market participants appear to be pricing in a more prolonged conflict and the risk that the latest escalation disrupts oil flows from the Middle East.

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