US energy shares gain as Houthi tanker attacks push Brent to $100

US energy shares gain as Houthi tanker attacks push Brent to $100 Reuters Thu, July 23, 2026 at 3:32 PM GMT+2 2 min read CL=F July 23 (Reuters) - U. S. energy shares rose in premarket trading on Thursday as Brent crude briefly touched $100 a barrel, extending a ‌five-day rally after attacks on two Saudi oil tankers intensified ‌Middle East tensions and heightened concerns over global oil supply disruptions.

Houthi forces in Yemen have ​widened the conflict by targeting vessels carrying Saudi oil in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, after declaring a naval blockade on Saudi shipments. The attacks have heightened fears that disruptions to Middle East oil exports could spread beyond the Strait ‌of Hormuz, tightening global ⁠crude supplies and supporting higher energy prices. Here are more details: • Brent crude futures rose as much as 6.

3% to $100 ⁠per barrel by 1302 GMT for the first time since May 26. U. S.

West Texas Intermediate crude was up 5. 2% at $91. 30 per barrel.

• "We continue to ​expect the ​production recovery process in the Middle ​East to be slower than ‌the market anticipates, as it requires an increase in inbound vessels," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. • "With the conflict resuming, those flows remain depressed. This should keep the oil market tight and prices supported.

" • Shares of Exxon Mobil and Chevron rose 1. 6% and 1. 7%, respectively.

Diamondback Energy , Devon Energy, ConocoPhillips ‌and Occidental Petroleum were up between 2% ​and 2. 5%. • Refiners Valero Energy , Marathon Petroleum ​and Phillips 66 also gained ​between 2.

1% and 2. 6%. • Before tensions flared again after ‌July 8, analysts had cut their ​2026 oil price ​forecasts for the first time since the Iran war began, a Reuters poll showed in June.

• Energy stocks have swung with developments ​in the conflict, surging ‌on supply disruption fears before pulling back after the United States ​and Iran reached a temporary peace agreement.