Oil Surges Past $99 After Saudi Refinery Attack
Brent crude jumped to nearly $99 a barrel on September 8, its highest level since July 24, after Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, including the Jazan refinery.
Brent crude broke above $99 a barrel on September 8, the highest level for the contract since July 24, after Yemen’s Houthi forces struck energy facilities in southern Saudi Arabia. The day before, Brent had stood at $97 a barrel and European gas prices were at a three and a half year high, as we reported at the time. This latest spike has a specific trigger: the attacks hit the Jazan refinery, which has a capacity of 400,000 barrels a day, after which Saudi Arabia halted operations at part of its energy facilities.
Sources differ on the exact figures. According to one market tracker, Brent futures touched $99.22 a barrel during the day, which would mark the highest level since July 24. Irish public broadcaster RTE reported a different intraday high for the same day, $99.46. By 8:00 GMT, Brent had risen $2, or 2.06 percent, to $99.00 a barrel according to that tracker, while RTE put the price at $98.39 at that point, up $1.39, or 1.43 percent.
US crude benchmark WTI shows a similar gap between sources. One tracker cited a jump of $2.93, or 3.2 percent, to $94.41, with an intraday high of $94.60. RTE put the price at $93.73, up $2.25, or 2.46 percent, with an intraday peak of $94.73, the highest since June 8.
Serbian state news agency Tanjug reported on the story twice during the day. At 8:57 a.m., the agency put Brent at $98 a barrel and WTI at $93. By 11:15 a.m., according to Tanjug, the price had climbed toward $99, its highest level in six weeks.
The attacks struck facilities in southern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen, in four cities: Jazan, Najran, Khamis Mushait and Abha. Seventy three people were wounded, including women and children. Saudi authorities described the attacks as a dangerous escalation and confirmed that operations at part of the energy facilities were halted after Tuesday’s strikes.
Colonel Turki al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said the response would be decisive:
The coalition will take all necessary operational measures to deter this terrorist militia.
He made the statement in a post on the platform X.
The attacks were carried out by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi forces. The Houthis control the most populated parts of Yemen and most of the country’s north, and have been escalating attacks on Saudi Arabia since July 2026, when they declared a naval blockade of Riyadh, striking Saudi vessels in the Red Sea. Saudi Aramco had not issued a public statement on the latest attacks as of this report.
About 20 percent of the world’s daily oil and liquefied natural gas shipments normally pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Tanker traffic remains well below its usual level, according to RTE.
Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, explained why prices are staying elevated:
The price movement reflects genuine physical tightness in the market, since tanker flow through Hormuz remains far below normal, as well as a clear geopolitical risk premium. Right now, the risk premium is doing most of the work.
Goldman Sachs raised its price forecasts the same day. The bank now expects Brent at $85 and WTI at $80 for December 2026, both $5 higher than its previous estimate. For 2027, Goldman Sachs projects $80 for Brent and $75 for WTI. The revision rests on the assumption that disruptions to Middle East shipping will persist into 2027.
Paolo Brocardo of BankPro warned that the oil derivatives market could come under more pressure than the crude market itself:
Refined product markets could remain tighter than the crude market, especially if refining capacity and logistics stay constrained.
Tension over oil deepened the same day when Iran threatened the United States with “economic war” and claimed it had fired advanced missiles at American warships. The combination of the attacks on Saudi facilities, Iran’s threats and slower traffic through the Strait of Hormuz leaves the oil market where it stood a day earlier, only one step further: the risk premium, analysts say, is currently carrying more weight in the price of a barrel than the market’s actual physical shortage.
