Oil’s retreat in the second half of 2026 was supposed to become easier as hope emerged of flows restoring through the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, the Middle East has just acquired another oil-market flashpoint.
Houthi missile and drone attacks on southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday wounded 73 people, set fires at energy facilities and temporarily disrupted operations at sites linked to Saudi Aramco. The attacks also put the Red Sea’s Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint under fresh pressure just as the Strait of Hormuz remains severely impaired.
