Houthi blockade adds pressure to oil markets

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The Houthis’ declared blockade of the Red Sea is raising fears of a “two-chokepoint problem,” Standard Chartered analysts wrote, as oil markets contend with simultaneous disruptions to both of the region’s main oil arteries.
Tankers are shunning the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, threatening a lifeline for Saudi Arabia’s crude exports during the Strait of Hormuz’s closure; Asian refiners are eyeing the one-month-longer trip through the Suez Canal. “The immediate risk is not a loss of production,” Kpler analysts said, but increased transport costs and reshaped trade flows.
Those conditions, however, are creating windfall opportunities for more daring shipowners: Greece’s Dynacom, which suffered two direct hits on Monday, is ferrying oil through the Gulf at up to $500,000 per vessel.

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