Oil prices rose on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, after two ships were targeted in the Strait of Hormuz. The price of Brent crude oil increased by 63 cents or 0.6% to $106.32 per barrel. Additionally, West Texas Intermediate crude oil was traded at $94.80 per barrel, up 66 cents or 0.7%.
Price Increases and Their Reasons
Both oil indices saw an increase of more than a dollar in the early hours of trading, but lost some of their gains. Iranian officials refrained from providing details about their new strategy, but one of them told the media that Iran began using different aggressive tactics against ships that Tehran believes violate its restrictions about 10 days ago. According to this official, the use of these tactics has led to an increase in attacks against such ships.
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Ansar Allah Attacks on Saudi Oil Facilities
In another development, the Saudi Ministry of Energy announced on Wednesday that Ansar Allah attacked an office building belonging to the state oil company Aramco in Dhahran, resulting in damage to the company's building. This group has fired ballistic missiles and drones towards Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi support for Yemen's government forces over the past week. Riyadh International Airport has also been targeted four times, with 13 people killed in the attack on Saturday.
Hiroyuki Kiyokawa, chief strategist at Nissan Securities, said concerns about oil supply due to the conflict between Ansar Allah and Saudi Arabia are driving prices up. He added that, however, an expected increase in Russian diesel exports is likely to ease pressure on the market and prevent severe price fluctuations in either direction.
Kiyokawa predicted that West Texas Intermediate crude oil would trade in the range of $90 to $100 per barrel. Last month, Saudi Arabia increased its oil production despite disruptions to oil shipments caused by the U.S. war against Iran. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced on Tuesday that this action has led to a significant increase in OPEC+ oil production, consisting of OPEC members and its allies, including Russia.
In Russia, the government announced on Tuesday that it does not see a direct link between peace negotiations with Ukraine and Moscow's agreement to export diesel to the U.S. These statements came after U.S. representatives told Ukrainian officials on Friday that the diesel export agreement was part of efforts to bring Russia back to negotiations aimed at achieving a peace agreement.
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