Brent touches $107 as Gulf conflict widens beyond Hormuz

Brent crude hit its highest level in nearly four months this week, briefly touching $107 a barrel before settling near $101.21 on Wednesday as Houthi strikes set Saudi energy facilities ablaze, according to Reuters reporting on the attacks. WTI settled at $96.05 the same session, putting it on track for its biggest weekly advance since July. The market has stopped pricing this as a temporary spike. Traders are now pricing in prolonged disruption to shipping through both the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, according to analysts cited by Bloomberg, which means insurance and freight costs stay elevated even if no barrel of production is actually lost. Dated Brent has held above $100 since September 3. For UK importers and manufacturers, that is an input-cost problem measured in months, not days.