Oil prices jumped 2% on Friday as the United States (US) and Britain launched air and sea strikes in Yemen against the Houthi militants in response to the Iranian-backed group's attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Oil Prices Increase Following US, British Retaliatory Strikes Against Houthi Militants
Following the retaliatory strikes, Reuters reported that the Brent crude oil futures were up by $1.52, or 2%, to $78.93 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate futures climbed $1.43, also up 2%, at $73.45 per barrel, at 7:28 a.m. GMT.
These figures increased nearly 1% on Thursday, indicating a second straight weekly rise. According to the Associated Press, the US and British militaries bombed over a dozen sites used by Houthi militants in Yemen on Thursday.
US officials said it was a massive retaliatory strike using warship- and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets. The strikes marked the first US military response to drone and missile attacks on commercial vessels carried out by Houthi rebels.
Houthi rebels started attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea after the Israel-Hamas war began in October, disrupting a major global trade artery that links Europe and Asia, with about 10% of the world's trade passing through it.
These attacks are being carried out to show support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas in its fight against Israel.
Joe Biden on Retaliatory Strikes Against Houthi Militants
In a statement released on Thursday night, President Joe Biden confirmed that these "strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea," which, according to him, have endangered US personnel and civilian mariners and jeopardized trade.
He noted that "these targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world's most critical commercial routes."
Biden said he will "not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary." The US-led retaliatory attacks closely follow Iran's seizure on Thursday of a tanker with Iraqi crude bound for Turkey in retaliation for the confiscation of the same vessel and its oil by the US last year.
The White House has condemned the seizure and demanded Iran to "immediately release the ship and its crew."
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