Saudi Arabia Halts Oil Shipments via Bab-el-Mandeb after Ansarullah Op

Local Editor

Saudi Arabia halted oil shipments through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the country’s energy minister has said. It follows an operation by Ansarullah revolutionaries on a Saudi oil tanker off Yemen’s western coast.

The pause in shipments will last until the safety of shipments through the strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, is ensured, Khalid Al-Falih said in a statement.

The announcement follows an operation by Ansarullah on a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea west of Yemen’s coast. According to the Saudi-led aggression on Yemen, the attack caused “minor damage”.

The vessel apparently belongs to the Saudi shipping group Bahri, which reported on Wednesday that one of its VLCC [Very Large Crude Carrier] tankers had been damaged in the Red Sea.

A similar attack happened in April, off the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.

Bab-el-Mandeb is a potential choking point for Saudi oil shipments. Any lasting disruption of traffic through it would result in turmoil on the crude market. Brent crude rose 38 cents to $73.82 a barrel on Wednesday.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team