Asia’s oil buyers face US$100-per-barrel risk as Houthis threaten Saudi blockade

Asia’s oil buyers are facing the risk of a second maritime chokepoint being disrupted after Iran-aligned Houthi militants threatened to impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, even as shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remain severely disrupted by the US-Iran conflict.Analysts said any serious disruption in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could leave Asia with fewer alternatives for Middle Eastern crude, threatening Saudi shipments and increasing the risk of oil prices rising above US$100 per barrel again.In a statement on Monday, the Houthis said the blockade threat was retaliation for what they described as Saudi Arabia’s 12-year restrictions on the movement of food, medicine and other essential goods through Yemeni crossings, ports and airports, as well as the plundering of local resources.A person watches Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea deliver a televised statement in Sana’a, Yemen, on Monday. Photo EPAA full closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern gateway to the Red Sea, could disrupt petroleum flows of about 7.4 million barrels per day, or roughly 7 per cent of global oil output, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters.