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- Oil prices on Monday continued to retreat from March highs following a United Nations-brokered truce between the United Arab Emirates and the Iran-aligned Houthi group
- The truce will bring a temporary end to military operations on the Saudi-Yemeni border, where a civil war has been raging for over seven years
- The United Arab Emirates and the Houthi group have both welcomed the move, which will allow fuel imports into Houthi-held areas
- The truce eases some supply chain concerns for the oil market and follows the United States’ largest-ever oil reserves release last week
- Meanwhile, Japan’s industry ministry says members of the International Energy Alliance (IEA) have agreed to their second coordinated oil release in just one month
Oil prices on Monday continued to retreat from March highs following a United Nations-brokered truce between the United Arab Emirates and the Iran-aligned Houthi group.
The truce, though temporary at this stage, will effectively bring an end to military operations on the Saudi-Yemeni border, where a civil war has been raging for over seven years.
The conflict began in 2014 when Houthi insurgents took control of Yemen’s capital and largest city, Sana’a, demanding cheaper fuel and a new government. Saudi Arabia got involved in the conflict in 2015 after the rebels seized the presidential palace.
Now, the United Arab Emirates and the Houthi group have both welcomed the nationwide truce, which will allow fuel imports into Houthi-held areas and some flights to operate from the Sana’a airport.
The move eases some supply chain concerns for the oil market and follows the United States’ largest-ever oil reserves release last week.
As the ASX trading day came to a close, West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading just below US$100 a barrel, while Brent crude was at $105.20 a barrel.
Last Thursday, President Joe Biden announced the release of one million barrels per day of crude oil for six months, starting from May. This means all up, 180 million barrels will be released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Meanwhile, Japan’s industry ministry said on the weekend members of the International Energy Alliance (IEA) had agreed to their second coordinated oil release in just one month.
However, while member countries agreed to the release, they did not agree on the volume or the timing for the oil release.
