Oil prices rose again on Wednesday after Yemen's Houthis claimed to have hit Saudi Arabia's biggest oil refinery with a missile, reviving concerns about supply from the Middle East amid the conflict with Iran and its allies.
According to sources, Brent crude futures rose $1.48, or 1.3%, to $115.36 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate gained $1.22 to $101.12. Prices had fallen by nearly $2 a day earlier on hopes that diplomatic talks in the region would ease supply worries.
The Houthis said on Tuesday they had struck the 550,000-barrel-per-day facility. Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm the attack. Saudi Arabia is the world's largest crude exporter.
Separately, the OPEC+ group of oil producers is expected to keep its December output targets unchanged at a meeting on Sunday, sources said, while US crude inventories are forecast to show a small rise for the week ended October 23.
For oil importers such as Pakistan, every rise in global prices adds pressure on the import bill and on local fuel prices, which is why markets are watching the Gulf closely.