Houthis claim missile strike on Saudi Arabia's largest refinery at Ras Tanura; Brent crude reverses Tuesday's drop to top $115
What happened
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday they hit Saudi Arabia's biggest oil refinery, Ras Tanura, with a ballistic missile, intensifying their strikes against the world's largest crude exporter. Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm the strike on the 550,000-barrel-per-day facility, so the claim remains unverified. Brent crude futures rose about 1.3% to $115.36 a barrel in Wednesday Asia trading and U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 1.2% to $101.12, reversing much of Tuesday's nearly $2-a-barrel decline, when Middle East talks had briefly eased supply worries.
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Who’s affected
- Energy producers (XOM, CVX, COP, international majors) — benefit from higher realized crude prices. U.S. refiners (VLO, PSX, MPC) — mixed: higher crude input costs, but a strike on a major Saudi refinery tightens global refined-product supply. Airlines, shippers and trucking (DAL, UAL, AAL, freight carriers) — higher fuel costs squeeze margins. Consumer/retail — higher fuel and logistics costs feed into inflation pressure. Defense stocks — elevated on Middle East escalation risk.