Once again, the risk to oil supply from the Middle East region is getting highlighted as Saudi Arabia confirmed that scores of oil tankers have been held hostage near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah port. The news first came to attention on Saturday, when Saudi Arabia’s appointed ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al-Jaber tweeted on Saturday, “The Yemen Comprehensive Humanitarian Support Center (YCHO) is deeply concerned that the Iranian-backed Houthi militias are holding more than 19 oil vessels in the militia-controlled area of Al-Mustaqaf, preventing them from entering the port”. Al-Jaber, a military expert, and strategist was appointed the ambassador to Yemen just ten days before the Houthi coup in September 2014 and played an important role in overseeing the Saudi and Gulf relief operations in Yemen in January 2015. The ambassador suggested three possible reasons for the detention, including an attempt to extract money from the owners of the vessels, “the continued starvation of the Yemeni people”, and a plan to destroy the tankers, causing major environmental damage to the Red Sea.
According to reports, Houthi rebels, which are backed by Saudi Arabia’s arch-rival Iran and has been fighting Saudi-supported Yemeni government in the ongoing civil war has detained as many as 19 oil tankers carrying as much as 200,000 tons of oil, which is approximately equivalent to 1.4 million barrels of crude oil.
However, one must take note that the only media sources reporting the tanker seizure are Saudi sources and there has been no confirmation from an external source that the Houthis have actually seized any takers yet. So this could be another fake news looking to pop up the oil market, like the Saudi Palace attack over the weekend. Nevertheless, there lie significant risks to oil supplies due to the ongoing war between Saudi Arabia and Houthi rebels, who at the end of last year, threatened that they would start attacking oil tankers and warships sailing under enemy flags if the Gulf coalition fighting it in the country does not reopen its ports. Since then, there have been multiple reports of Houthis strikes against Saudi targets, including civilian targets, but no real damage has been done. On April 3rd, a Saudi oil tanker was attacked by Houthi militias in international waters west of Hodeidah port which is under the control of armed militias.
