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The Brent oil price slides over five per cent as traders lock in profits and market panic recedes following a dramatic mid-week rally driven by Middle East conflict.
Benchmark Brent crude tumbled to $95.61 a barrel, giving up rapid gains after surging past the $100 mark on Thursday.
Concurrently, West Texas Intermediate dropped 4.1 per cent to $88.40 a barrel, snapping a week-long price surge across global energy markets.
The initial price spike followed Thursday’s attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Red Sea oil tankers, which threatened to widen the ongoing military conflict between the United States and Iran.
While United States President Donald Trump warned the Iran-backed fighters of major military punishment and launched fresh strikes against Iranian targets on Friday, market anxiety cooled as commercial vessels successfully navigated the Bab al-Mandeb Strait—a critical maritime choke point for global crude shipments.
Although the Houthis declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia earlier in the week, a rebel spokesman confirmed on Friday that forces were not actively blocking commercial traffic through the strait.
This continued vessel passage provided immediate relief to energy traders, offsetting supply disruption fears and driving the rapid retreat in futures prices.
