DUBAI, July 22 — Global energy markets lurched deeper into crisis on Wednesday as Yemen’s Houthi movement declared an immediate maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia, opening a second naval chokepoint alongside the already disrupted Strait of Hormuz and sending oil prices surging to their highest level in five weeks.
Brent crude climbed above $91 per barrel, a level not seen since early June, while analysts warned that the dual-strait disruption — simultaneously threatening the Persian Gulf and Red Sea export corridors — could push prices toward $120 if hostilities persist through the fourth quarter.
The Houthi announcement, delivered by military spokesman Yahya Sarea, framed the Red Sea embargo as retaliation for what the group called a 12-year Saudi-led blockade on Yemen. “Blockade for blockade,” Sarea declared, adding that Houthi forces remained in “complete readiness for all options.” The group ordered Saudi-bound vessels to turn back via radio communications shortly after the announcement.
The move represents a severe strategic escalation. Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on its East-West Pipeline corridor feeding the Red Sea terminal at Yanbu as an alternative export route since Iranian forces effectively sealed the Strait of Hormuz in late February. Yanbu had been handling nearly 4.7 million barrels per day before the Houthi threat. The Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the narrow 32-kilometer passage at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, normally carries about 12 percent of global trade.
The Houthi action compounds an already volatile security landscape. For ten consecutive nights, American forces have struck Iranian military targets in what the US Central Command describes as operations to “further diminish Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners” transiting Hormuz. The Pentagon reported that nearly 100 American service members have sustained injuries of varying degrees since July 7, though most have returned to duty.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has responded with multi-stage operations targeting US positions across the Gulf, including facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan. Oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz have been struck, with at least two vessels attacked since the latest round of fighting intensified. Hormuz shipping traffic has fallen to roughly 45 percent of pre-conflict levels, according to shipping data, while war-risk insurance premiums for vessels transiting the Red Sea rose sharply following the Houthi declaration.
The cascading maritime crisis has effectively eliminated Saudi Arabia’s redundancy strategy. With Hormuz constricted and Bab al-Mandeb now contested, Riyadh faces the prospect of both its primary and alternative crude export corridors being simultaneously compromised — a scenario that military planners and energy analysts had long identified as a worst-case contingency.
Diplomatic channels remain open but fragile. Both Washington and Tehran have signaled willingness to explore a pause in fighting, with mediators reportedly proposing a 10-day ceasefire to allow discussion of restoring a previous understanding between the two sides. Iran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote on X that “the era of one-sided deals is over,” while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington continued to pursue a diplomatic solution and had received signals from Tehran about possible talks.
The latest escalation in Yemen adds a third dimension to the regional crisis, threatening to unravel the fragile UN-brokered truce that has largely held since 2022. Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi warned that Saudi oil installations and strategic infrastructure could become targets if Riyadh escalates military operations against the group.
For global shipping, the dual-chokepoint disruption compounds an already strained logistics environment. Vessels avoiding the Red Sea must route around the Cape of Good Hope, adding approximately 10 days and significant fuel costs to Europe-Asia voyages. With both major Middle Eastern waterways now under threat, energy-importing nations in Europe and Asia face heightened supply risks heading into the second half of 2026.
Goldman Sachs, in a note published Sunday, said its baseline forecast assumes a gradual easing of tensions and Brent at $80 per barrel by the fourth quarter, but acknowledged that “risks are tilted firmly to the upside” given the compounding nature of the Hormuz and Red Sea disruptions.
In Sanaa, Houthi officials insisted their blockade was a proportional response to Saudi actions. Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office, wrote on X that the Bab al-Mandeb closure was a direct answer to what he described as Saudi Arabia’s “unjust blockade on Yemenis for over 10 years.” Saudi Arabia’s coalition command said it would respond firmly to any threats against commercial navigation, calling the Houthi announcement a violation of international law.
The United Nations has expressed alarm at the widening scope of regional hostilities. Observers note that the simultaneous crises at Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb mark the most severe disruption to global maritime energy corridors since the Tanker War of the 1980s.