Brent Crude Tops $108 as Saudi Pipeline Stays Shut, Hormuz Talks Collapse and Houthis Hit Saudi Airbase

Oil markets surged on Monday after a cascade of supply disruptions left traders pricing in what industry executives are calling a full-blown fuel crisis. Brent crude crossed $108 a barrel, up more than 3%, while U.S. WTI futures settled at $101.39 a barrel, a gain of 1.34% on the day. Gulf states called off a planned meeting with Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz the same day, removing the last near-term diplomatic off-ramp for a blockade that has already reshaped global energy flows.

The immediate trigger was the shutdown of Saudi Arabia's 7-million-barrel-a-day East-West pipeline, the kingdom's only crude export route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz. A Friday drone attack, which Riyadh attributed to Iran-backed fighters in Iraq, struck the line and knocked it out, cutting off the feed to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. With Hormuz already severely disrupted and the pipeline now offline, Saudi Arabia is potentially just days away from being unable to export meaningful volumes of crude, according to MarketWatch. The Houthis compounded the pressure Monday by firing dozens of missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia's King Khalid airbase in Khamis Mushait, citing retaliation for more than 300 Saudi airstrikes on Yemen over five days.

The Houthis have also seized Yemen's Red Sea coast, the port of Mokha, and Perim Island, which divides the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into two channels, giving the group positions from which it can threaten one of the world's busiest shipping lanes simultaneously with the Hormuz blockade. Traders and brokers say the use of trucks to move oil within the Persian Gulf region has ballooned as companies seek to avoid the Hormuz crossing entirely, with overland costs running around $18 per metric ton versus at least four times that for small tankers transiting the strait.

Refiners and oil majors are the clearest market winners so far. ExxonMobil and Chevron shares have each gained roughly 40% in 2026, while shares of Phillips 66, Valero Energy, and Marathon Petroleum have more than doubled as refined product markets tighten beyond crude. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and other oil executives warned Monday that global supplies are running dangerously low with no respite in sight, a view at odds with Trump administration officials who described the disruption as temporary. Energy Secretary Doug Burgum said oil export bans are unlikely but kept all options on the table. Polish refiner Orlen posted tenders to buy alternative crude barrels on Monday, a signal that buyers reliant on Middle Eastern supplies are actively seeking replacements.