Key takeaways: Oil prices jumped more than $3 a barrel on November 12 after explosions were reported on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen’s Houthis claimed attacks on Saudi energy sites. Brent crude settled at $95.82, its biggest one-day gain in weeks, as President Donald Trump said the United States does not need a deal with Iran.
Oil prices surged by more than $3 a barrel on Thursday after explosions were reported on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen’s Houthi group claimed attacks on Saudi Arabian energy sites, the sharpest escalation yet in a shipping campaign that has pushed the world’s most important oil waterway back to the centre of global markets.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, settled at $95.82 a barrel, up $3.06 or 3.3 percent on the day. US West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $88.74, up $2.21 or 2.6 percent. The gains came after a volatile session in which prices first fell, then rebounded sharply as the reports from the Gulf reached trading floors.
The jump was the latest swing in a turbulent fortnight for oil. Despite Thursday’s rally, both benchmarks were still down about 2.5 percent for the week, and Friday morning trading was quieter, with Brent little changed at $95.41 and WTI down 20 cents at $88.52. Traders say the market is torn between the risk of a wider disruption and signs that, for now, the world’s oil keeps flowing.
Four tankers hit, Iran’s military says
The most alarming report of the day came from Iran’s military, which said four oil tankers had been hit by explosions in the Strait of Hormuz after ignoring warnings. Reuters reported the claim on Thursday and said it could not immediately verify the Iranian account.
Iranian state media separately reported that two large oil tankers had exploded and caught fire in the early hours of November 12 while passing through the strait on routes Tehran described as unauthorised. The accounts have not been independently confirmed, and the names of the vessels and the scale of any damage were not immediately clear.
What is clear is that shipping through the strait has become steadily more dangerous in recent weeks. Tankers are still ablaze in the Gulf, according to Reuters, and oil spills have begun washing ashore on the coasts of the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Oman said on Thursday that its emergency committee was monitoring a tanker that had run aground off Al Qibliyah Island, near the Musandam peninsula that overlooks the strait, and was watching for any pollution. The UAE had already closed beaches after an oil spill from a tanker damaged in a suspected attack last month.
The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow channel between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf with the open sea. Before the conflict between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other, now in its ninth month, the strait carried nearly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil. Almost every barrel exported from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar passes through it, which is why even unverified reports of explosions there move prices within minutes.
Houthis claim attacks on Saudi energy sites
The second blow to the market came from Yemen, where the Iran-aligned Houthi group said it had attacked a pumping station on Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline, an oil facility in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu, and a Saudi Aramco building in the capital, Riyadh.
The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis said it had intercepted and destroyed two drones launched by the group, one in the Riyadh region and another in the kingdom’s oil-rich Eastern Province. No damage from the claimed attacks was confirmed.
The Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi infrastructure in recent days, and the claims landed on a market already nervous about the tanker reports. Analysts say the combination of the two stories, one in the strait and one inside Saudi Arabia, is what turned an early sell-off into a $3 rally.
“The tit-for-tat exchanges between Russia and Ukraine and attacks on shipping by the IRGC are beginning to add price pressure,” Timothy Snyder, chief economist at Matador Economics, told Reuters.
Trump says no deal with Iran is needed
Politics added to the rally. On Thursday, President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Washington did not need an agreement with Iran to end the war, a message that dimmed hopes of a negotiated settlement and signalled that the United States would stick with its blockade of Iranian oil shipments and its trade and economic sanctions.
“Those days have long since passed. We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!” Trump wrote.
His words came as US officials said Washington planned to continue the blockade, which has cut off much of Iran’s oil trade. Tehran, for its part, has said the United States must lift the naval blockade and sanctions before direct peace talks can take place. Mohsen Rezaee, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said in an interview that Iran would not give up any part of its enriched nuclear material.
The deadlock matters because a deal was, until recently, the market’s main hope for calmer prices. Earlier in the week, hopes of a rapprochement had helped push oil down sharply. Brent fell 16 percent last week and WTI 13 percent, their steepest weekly drops in months, as traders bet that diplomacy might reopen the strait and restore normal flows. Thursday’s events reversed that bet, at least for a day.
Why it matters beyond the Gulf
For most of the world, the price of Brent is the price of petrol, diesel and heating fuel, with a lag of days or weeks. A sustained rise feeds directly into transport costs, food prices and inflation, and it complicates the work of central banks that have spent two years bringing inflation down.
For oil-importing countries such as Pakistan, which buys almost all of its fuel from abroad, a higher Brent price eventually shows up at the pump and in the import bill, tightening the trade balance and the budget. Pakistan has cut domestic petrol and diesel prices twice in recent weeks as global prices fell, and a renewed rise would put that relief at risk.
The impact is not limited to energy. The strait is also a route for liquefied natural gas from Qatar, one of the world’s biggest exporters, and for container shipping between Asia and Europe. Insurers have already raised the cost of cover for vessels passing through the Gulf, and some shipowners are rerouting or delaying voyages, adding days and cost to deliveries.
There are counterweights. US crude and fuel inventories rose last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday, with crude stocks up 4.7 million barrels to 414.4 million barrels in the week to November 6, far above the 1.1 million barrel fall analysts had expected. OPEC+ data also showed that the group’s crude production rose in October, driven by higher Saudi output despite the shipping disruption. Both point to a market that, for now, is well supplied.
Analysts say the market is priced for a contained conflict rather than a full closure of the strait. “I think the oil market is priced to perfection at this point,” Chris Brankin, a global adviser at the brokerage MiTrade, told Reuters, adding that traders were following events in the Middle East closely but without much conviction behind the rebound.
What happens next
Several events in the coming days will shape where prices go from here. The International Energy Agency publishes its monthly oil-market report on Friday, giving traders a fresh read on global supply and demand. The market will also be watching for any confirmation of the tanker incidents, any further Houthi claims, and any response from Washington or Riyadh.
The wider war is also moving on other fronts. Ukraine said its drones had hit the port area of Ust-Luga on Russia’s Baltic coast, setting fire to fuel tanks at a major oil export outlet, while talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner began in the Kremlin. A US envoy said Putin had agreed to include European representatives in the next round of negotiations, a possible opening after months of deadlock.
For now, the strait remains open and oil keeps moving, but Thursday showed how quickly that can change. One day of claims and explosions was enough to add $3 to the price of a barrel. If the attacks continue, or if a tanker is confirmed sunk or a terminal is hit, the market’s next move could be much bigger.
Frequently asked questions
Why did oil prices jump $3 on November 12?
Brent crude settled at $95.82 a barrel, up $3.06, after Iran’s military said four tankers had been hit by explosions in the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen’s Houthis claimed attacks on Saudi energy sites, including a pumping station on the East-West pipeline. President Donald Trump also said the US did not need a deal with Iran, dimming hopes of a negotiated end to the conflict.
How much oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz?
Before the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, the strait carried nearly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil. It is the only sea route out of the Persian Gulf for Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar, which is why attacks on shipping there move global prices.
Have the tanker explosions been confirmed?
No. Iran’s military said four tankers were hit after ignoring warnings, and Iranian state media reported two large tankers exploding and catching fire, but Reuters said it could not immediately verify either account. Oil spills have been reported washing ashore in the UAE and Oman, and Oman is monitoring a tanker that ran aground near the strait.
What does this mean for petrol prices in Pakistan?
Pakistan imports almost all of its fuel, so a sustained rise in Brent crude eventually reaches the pump and the import bill. Pakistan cut petrol and diesel prices twice in recent weeks as global prices fell; a renewed rise would put that relief at risk.
Sources
- Reuters, “Oil prices set for second weekly decline as Trump to stay with Iran blockade”, November 13, 2026: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-set-second-weekly-decline-trump-stay-with-iran-blockade-2026-11-13/
- The Business Times (Reuters), “Oil settles US$3 higher on attacks on Saudi energy sites, Hormuz strait disruptions”, November 13, 2026: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/energy-commodities/oil-settles-us3-higher-attacks-saudi-energy-sites-hormuz-strait-disruptions
- Reuters, “Oman monitors handling of oil tanker run aground off its coast”, November 12, 2026: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/oman-monitors-handling-oil-tanker-run-aground-off-its-coast-2026-11-12/
- The Nation (Thailand), “Brent rises 3.3% on November 12 amid Saudi attack claims”, November 13, 2026: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/world/40073442
- News Karnataka, “Brent crude rises above $95 amid Iran tensions”, November 13, 2026: https://newskarnataka.com/business/brent-crude-rises-above-95-amid-iran-tensions/13112026/
- StockBiz, “Oil prices rise USD 3 per barrel after attack on Saudi Arabia’s energy facilities”, November 13, 2026: https://stockbiz.vn/en/news/oil-prices-rise-usd-3-per-barrel-after-attack-on-saudi-arabias-energy-facilities/42759949
- Vietnam.vn, “World oil prices rose by $3 per barrel”, November 13, 2026: https://www.vietnam.vn/en/gia-dau-the-gioi-tang-3-usd-thung
