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U.S. crude futures rose in overnight trading Friday, holding near $104 a barrel as Saudi air defenses intercepted two more Houthi projectiles, extending a week of near-daily attacks on the kingdom that has kept a floor under oil prices.
The December West Texas Intermediate contract last traded at $103.98, up $1.98, or 1.9%, from Thursday’s settlement of $102.00, according to CME Group’s delayed quotes. The contract touched $104.99 overnight after opening at $102.80, and traded as low as $102.43.
Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile launched by the Houthi militia toward the kingdom’s Western Region late Thursday night, and destroyed an unmanned aerial vehicle in the Makkah Region early Friday, Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said in statements carried by the Saudi Press Agency (cruise missile statement; drone statement). The announcements marked the seventh consecutive day the coalition has reported intercepting Houthi-launched projectiles.
Yemen’s Houthi-run Saba news agency said Thursday that the group’s forces had carried out six operations over the previous 24 hours, naming the Ras Tanura refinery, an Aramco facility in Abqaiq, the Riyadh and Dammam airports, the Rabigh refinery and a headquarters in Najran among the targets. Saudi authorities have not confirmed that any of those sites were struck, and no damage to oil facilities has been reported.
Traders have bid crude higher through the week on the risk that a successful strike on Saudi energy infrastructure could disrupt supply, even as every reported attack so far has been intercepted.
Diplomatic efforts continued in parallel. Iran urged Qatar to uphold what it called the principles of mediation, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
JBizNews Desk | New York
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