Saudi Arabia intercepts 'explosive laden' boats in the Red Sea: report

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of crude, said March 23 it had intercepted two "explosive-laden boats" in the Red Sea, through which around 7 million b/d of crude transits to global markets.

Two booby-trapped boats that set off from Yemen's Hodeidah Governorate were intercepted "thwarting an imminent hostile attack in the southern Red Sea", local television Al Arabiya reported, citing Saudi Arabia's coalition in Yemen.

Oil prices remained elevated following the attack, with Brent futures up 3.6% from the overnight settle trading at $119.67/b at 1306 GMT.

The incident in the Red Sea is the latest in a spate of attacks against Saudi Arabia and the country's oil infrastructure. Late on March 22, Saudi forces intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile that was fired towards the southern city of Jizan, which lies north of the Yemeni border.

Most exports of petroleum and natural gas from the Persian Gulf that transit the Suez Canal or the SUMED pipeline pass through both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait into the Red Sea.

On March 20, Houthi militants targeted Aramco's Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Co. (Yasref) refinery resulting in temporary reduction of its output.

Saudi forces also foiled attempts on March 19 to target energy infrastructure in Yanbu, Khamis Mushait and Dhahran al-Janoub using a ballistic missile and several armed drones.

The hit to the refinery and repeated attacks prompted the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a statement on March 21 that the country was not responsible for any supply outages in the oil markets if attacks against its energy infrastructure by the Houthi rebels continued unabated.

The ministry called for international recognition of the threat posed by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis against the kingdom's oil and gas facilities and global energy security.

According to the S&P Global Oil Security Sentinel, the kingdom's oil and energy infrastructure has been targeted over 40 times since 2017, with the biggest incident occurring in 2019 when drone attacks hit the giant Abqaiq oil processing facility.

The incidents are on the rise as western powers and Iran appear to be closing in on a new nuclear deal that would relax sanctions on Iranian oil exports. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab neighbors have opposed the west's rapprochement with Iran, their longstanding geopolitical rival that they accuse of destabilizing the region, and have insisted on stronger security guarantees.