Oil tops $115 a barrel on world market as Houthi attack claims and Hormuz tension push prices up for a fourth straight month

Fuel oil prices have risen again on the world market. At the start of trading on Friday morning (30 October), crude oil crossed $115 a barrel on the international market, raising fresh fears of disruption to global fuel supplies.

According to a Reuters report, at 01:22 GMT on Friday Brent crude rose 86 cents, or 0.75 percent, to $115.74 a barrel.

At the same time, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 72 cents, or 0.71 percent, to $102.72 a barrel.

Oil prices are now set to rise for a fourth consecutive month on the international market. Brent crude is expected to gain about 14 percent in October, and WTI about 15 percent.

Concern over supplies grew further after Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed fresh attacks on Saudi energy installations. The Houthis say they attacked Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq facility as well as the Ras Tanura and Rabigh oil refineries in Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh, however, says the attacks were repelled. With the attack claims and the repelling statement arriving side by side, the market's concern over supplies has not eased.

Tension around the Strait of Hormuz is also not subsiding. Iran's Revolutionary Guard has claimed that three tankers struck sea mines and caught fire while travelling along an unauthorised route south of the strait.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most important fuel transport routes. Tension around the route has added to the instability in the oil market, the report said.

Such instability has continued in the international fuel market since the start of the Iran-US war — prices rising at times and falling at others. Both the Houthi attack claims and the Hormuz tension lay behind the latest increase.

Analysts say that until these conflicts and attacks stop, there is very little chance of fuel oil prices stabilising on the international market.