Brent crosses $101 as Saudi attacks, US storm add to oil supply concerns

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Wednesday, with Brent crude crossing the $101-a-barrel mark as fresh supply risks outweighed rising optimism due to increased Middle East crude supplies.WTI crude rose 1.05% to $90.38 a barrel, while Brent crude gained 1.02% to $101.60 as supply concerns emerged in Saudi Arabia and the US oil and refining sector.The latest concerns came from both sides of the global oil supply chain. According to US forecasters, a storm developing in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to become the first Atlantic hurricane of 2026 within two days and is likely to affect oil and gas facilities.The areas in the storm’s path account for 15% of US crude production and 5% of the country’s natural gas production. Six refineries could also be affected. Refineries located in US Gulf states represent about 50% of the country’s total refining capacity of 18.2 million barrels per day (bpd).The prospect of disruption has emerged even as oil supplies from the Middle East have increased. Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on Tuesday said that supply had been rising, with the East-West pipeline reaching 5.8 million barrels a day.The head of Vitol said that around 12 million barrels per day of crude oil and 2 million bpd of refined products had been shipped out of the Middle East by tankers over the previous seven to 10 days.US inventory data, however, offered a mixed picture. According to market sources citing by Reuters, crude and gasoline inventories declined last week, while distillate stocks increased marginally. US crude inventories fell by 2.09 million barrels in the week ended October 2.Meanwhile, tensions around Saudi Arabia have added another risk to regional supply. The Saudi aviation authority said airports in Jazan and Najran were attacked twice on Monday evening as hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis escalated.The attacks came as Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces pursued a major offensive to regain territory from the Houthis after weeks of rebel advances. Saudi Arabia has increased airstrikes in support of the campaign.Mukesh Sahdev, chief oil analyst at X Analysts in Sydney, said the attacks and refinery outages could continue to support higher oil prices.“Attacks and refinery outages are likely to keep the cracks elevated and scarcity will transmit to crude. Prices will stay elevated near a $100 level without any material de-escalation emerging,” Sahdev said.The wider tensions involving Iran have also remained unresolved. US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that there was uncertainty over who was running Iran during the eight-month US-Israeli war with Iran.“Their leaders are gone, their second group of leaders are gone, and the biggest problem I have is nobody knows who the hell is running the country,” Trump said.Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said on Sunday that Washington knows very well who its counterpart is in Iran and how the decision-making system in the country works.