Oil Jumps to $110 as US Orders Diplomats to Leave Saudi Arabia
Oil prices climbed sharply on Thursday as the US ordered its diplomats and their families to leave Saudi Arabia amid sustained Houthi attacks on the kingdom. The decision marks a sharp escalation in Washington’s response to the crisis and has rattled energy markets already on edge over the Middle East.
Brent crude futures rose $1.29, or 1.2 per cent, to $110.11 a barrel, Reuters reported. US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 97 cents, or 1 per cent, to $98.12. Brent had settled largely unchanged on Wednesday, while WTI had eased 67 cents.
US diplomats Saudi Arabia withdrawal widens
A diplomatic source told AFP that Washington had ordered all American staff and their families to leave the US embassy in Saudi Arabia. The source said the families of embassy staff were also ordered to leave the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain.
Reuters reported that the US State Department plans to withdraw family members from a number of other US missions across the region. Three US officials said the move was driven by the possible resumption of hostilities, particularly with the Houthis in Yemen.
The orders followed a drone attack on the Shaybah oil field in the kingdom’s east. A drone was intercepted as it tried to target a Saudi Aramco facility, but falling shrapnel killed two foreign residents, a Filipino and a Nepalese national, and injured two others, including a Pakistani. The incident was covered in detail in Feature Pakistan’s earlier report.
The Saudi-led coalition said it had also intercepted five drones headed for Madinah and the kingdom’s eastern regions, as reported separately.
Allies move to shore up Riyadh
The crisis has pushed regional and Western allies to rally around Saudi Arabia. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said Cairo would defend Saudi territory if asked, while ruling out any attack on Yemen, as reported earlier. France’s President Emmanuel Macron made a surprise visit to Riyadh this week, and Turkiye’s parliament has taken up a motion on defensive troop deployment under an August defence pact, developments covered in our earlier report.
Pakistan has also deepened its defence engagement in the region. Islamabad signed the Badr defence cooperation pact with Qatar, Turkiye and Indonesia in Doha, a move aimed at contributing to regional peace and stability, as reported here.
What the oil spike means for Pakistan
For Pakistan, a net importer of oil, Brent at $110 a barrel spells pressure on the import bill and the rupee. Every sustained $10 rise in crude prices adds hundreds of millions of dollars to the country’s annual fuel import costs, feeding into transport fares, power generation costs and inflation.
The Strait of Hormuz adds another layer of risk. Iran’s state media reported explosions in the southern Hormozgan province overlooking the strait, while an Iranian general warned Tehran could target undersea internet cables if its infrastructure is attacked. Any disruption to the strait, through which a large share of Pakistan’s oil supplies passes, would hit the country directly.
The Dakar Rally has already shifted its 2027 edition from Saudi Arabia to Morocco over security fears, a sign of how far the fallout is spreading beyond energy markets.
What happens next
Markets will watch whether the Houthis sustain the tempo of attacks and whether the US evacuation order expands to more missions. Washington has also tightened sanctions on Iranian shipping networks, signalling that economic pressure will run alongside military readiness.
For now, the combination of an ordered diplomatic departure and triple-digit oil prices shows the crisis has moved beyond a border skirmish into a regional confrontation with global economic stakes.
*Source: Dawn live blog, Reuters, AFP*
Why did the US order diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia?
Washington ordered embassy staff and their families out because of sustained Houthi drone and missile attacks on Saudi cities and energy infrastructure, including a deadly strike on the Shaybah oil field.
How high did oil prices go?
Brent crude futures rose to $110.11 a barrel and US WTI reached $98.12 as markets reacted to the evacuation orders and the risk of wider regional conflict.
How does this affect Pakistan?
Pakistan imports most of its oil, so prices above $110 a barrel raise the import bill, push up transport and power costs, and add to inflationary pressure on households.
