U.S. crude falls over 2% as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia rattle traders

Oil prices surged more than $3 on Friday, reaching their highest level in nearly six months, following Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia. This caused worries about further disruptions to energy supplies from the Middle East. Brent crude futures rose to $116.72 per barrel, while U.S. WTI crude finished at $103.27 a barrel. Over the week, Brent increased by 6.2%, and WTI rose by 1.8%.

Ship tracking data revealed the first Russian diesel bound for the U.S., since the U.S. and Russia agreed on an export deal, was on a tanker heading to New York. The U.S. Department of Energy authorized an emergency exchange of up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to tackle a supply disruption affecting Phillips 66's Lake Charles refinery in Louisiana.

Meanwhile, Asian spot LNG prices surged to a fresh multi-year high due to strong demand in northeast Asia, driven by colder weather forecasts. The average LNG price for December delivery rose from $29.30 per mmBtu to $30.50 per mmBtu. European gas prices also climbed, with the Dutch TTF gas price settling at $30.60 per mmBtu, marking a 5.9% weekly increase.

European LNG markets saw higher prices as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Norwegian pipeline outages continued.