IEA stock release pushes down oil prices

• More than 300 million barrels supplied
• Brent crude edges down to $105
• Houthis kill five at palace in Aden

The International Energy Agency (IEA) announcement that it would release millions of barrels of diesel pushed oil prices lower on Friday morning.

This latest effort to contain soaring energy costs comes as Houthis attacks intensify across Saudi Arabia and Yemen, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz faces renewed threats, and Washington is increasing economic pressure on Iran.

The IEA said on Thursday that it has released almost 330 million barrels since March and would release another 20 million barrels of diesel as soon as possible.

It added that some IEA members have released more than initially pledged since the war began, while others intended to do so. This would bring the total stock release to more than the original target of 400 million barrels.

The US has discussed plans to ease sanctions on the shadow tanker fleet to boost its crude supply and counter the threat from the Houthis, whose attacks risk disrupting Middle Eastern crude supplies.

Brent crude futures fell 0.50 percent to $105.40 at 03:00 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded at $97.26, down 0.72 percent.

The Houthis continued their attacks on Saudi Arabia on Friday morning, targeting Jizan on the southern coast of the Red Sea. The strike followed an attack on Najran province late on Thursday.

Saudi civil defence later announced that the danger had passed over Jizan.

The militia also fired missiles at the presidential palace complex in Aden on Thursday, killing five, Reuters reported.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said on social media on Thursday that the Saudi war operations headquarters in Aden had been bombed, and warned that Saudi airspace and airports remained “unsafe”.

Riyadh airport has been closed since weekend attacks, which the Houthis followed with a strike on an administrative building at Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in Dammam.

Further reading:

• Iran threatens tanker-shuttle system in Gulf of Oman attacks
• Why Iran gains more from an open, dangerous Hormuz
• Cargo operators find Riyadh workarounds – at a price

Yemen has been divided for more than a decade between areas controlled by the UN-sanctioned, internationally recognised government and those held by the Houthis. The country has suffered economic collapse and widespread poverty.

Despite increased attacks and the sinking of two vessels this week in the Strait of Hormuz, US Central Command said ships were still sailing through the waterway, which before the war carried almost one-fifth of global crude and commodity flows.

“Commercial ships continue to flow through the Strait of Hormuz (whose primary routes remain clear of mines), with more than 40 ships moving in the last 24 hours,” Central Command said on Thursday.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post that the “noose is tightening around Iran’s economy and not even Iran’s so-called allies can save it”.

“The department of the treasury will not relent until the Iranian regime’s coffers are empty and every remaining financial lifeline sustaining its war machine has been severed,” he said.

Diesel prices in the US have surged more than 40 percent over the past year. US President Donald Trump struck a deal with Russia this week to supply diesel to lower fuel prices ahead of the November midterm elections.

Elsewhere, Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Tehran intended to fight and negotiate simultaneously to prevent its enemies from launching further attacks, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the conflict in Yemen weighed on Gulf stock exchanges on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index fell 0.3 percent, dragged down by heavyweight Saudi Aramco.

Qatar’s index fell 1.4 percent, its lowest close in more than six years. Dubai’s stock index slipped more than 1 percent, while Abu Dhabi’s fell 0.3 percent.

Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait also closed lower.