Oil Is Climbing Again After Houthis Claim A Missile Strike On Saudi Arabia’s Biggest Refinery

Oil is climbing again. December Brent crudefutures rose 1.2% to $115.19 a barrel on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate for December was up 1.8% at $101.65. The trigger? Yemen’s Houthi militants said they hit Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery with a ballistic missile this week, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Here’s the thing: nobody has confirmed it. Saudi authorities haven’t verified the strike or any damage. Aramco, which operates the facility, didn’t respond to an inquiry from the Journal. Ras Tanura can process 550,000 barrels a day. It sits in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, one of the kingdom’s main crude export hubs. So even an unconfirmed claim is enough to spook traders.