Both oil benchmarks moved above the $100 threshold on Sep 11 for the first time in nearly four months, with Brent crude settling at $108.68 and WTI at $103.45 in early trading [1]. The global benchmark surged over 6% in the prior session, marking its biggest weekly gain since July, on fears that escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and the seizure of Yemen's port of Mocha would further tighten Red Sea and Hormuz-adjacent shipping [2]. Iran-aligned Houthis advanced toward coastal areas bordering the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a critical chokepoint for Saudi crude exports to Asia, while most Hormuz traffic continued sailing dark with transponders off to avoid detection [2]. RBC Capital Markets analysts warned that a resumption of full-scale Saudi-Houthi war would be a catalyst for their high-price scenario [2]. Tanker attacks persisted through the strait, with UKMTO reporting two vessels struck by unidentified projectiles west of Khasab on Sep 10 — already covered in the previous post — and no VLCC reported out of the Gulf for a week [1][2].