Brent crude oil prices surged above the $100 per barrel mark as attacks on tankers in the Red Sea and production cuts in Kazakhstan boosted quotations by more than 7%, reports infohub.kz.
According to ICE Futures Europe, the September Brent crude futures contract rose 7.2% to $100.8 per barrel. Reuters attributed the spike to two main factors.
The first is strikes on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi militants. The Houthis are a political and armed group from the Shiite Zaydi minority in Yemen, also known as Ansar Allah. They control large parts of the country, including the capital Sanaa, and oppose the Yemeni government while supporting Iran in its regional conflict with Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the United States.
These attacks could lead to the closure of the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a vital shipping lane that controls access from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and is the second most important oil chokepoint after the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to 'hold Iran accountable' for any further attacks.
Earlier on Monday, the Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, which had been redirecting its oil via pipeline to bypass Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran had been pressuring the Houthis to shut the Bab el-Mandeb strait leading to the Red Sea if the United States continued to attack Iranian energy infrastructure after a temporary truce between the two countries collapsed two weeks ago.
The second reason for the price increase is a reduction in oil output from Kazakhstan. Starting July 21, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) halted accepting oil from Kazakhstan after suspending crude loading onto tankers at its marine terminal near Novorossiysk. The Energy Ministry cited the need to ensure vessel and crew safety after a series of drone attacks. With storage tanks filling up, oil producers were forced to cut output: on July 22, Kazakhstan's production fell 21.3% to 1.63 million barrels per day, and at the Tengiz field it more than halved. About 80% of Kazakhstan's oil exports go through CPC.
CPC facilities and associated tankers have been repeatedly targeted. In February 2025, seven drones damaged the largest oil pumping station, Kropotkinskaya, reducing the system's throughput by 30–40%. In November, unmanned boats put one of the marine terminal's offshore loading units out of service. A new wave of attacks occurred in July 2026: on July 17, the tanker Nordic Zenith, en route to the terminal, was damaged; on July 19, tankers ASIA and NISSOS IOS, which were loading Kazakh oil, were hit; and on July 20, the tanker NELSA was attacked. After that, loading and oil intake had to be suspended.