Crude benchmarks moved upward on Monday, with a combination of regional hostilities, fresh Houthi strikes targeting Saudi Arabia, and vessel incidents near the Strait of Hormuz prompting traders to factor in possible interruptions to the flow of oil from the area.

At 2304 GMT, Brent crude futures were trading at $105.48 a barrel, having added 76 cents — a 0.73% uptick — from the previous settlement. West Texas Intermediate crude — the US benchmark known as WTI — edged up 59 cents to settle at $92.44 a barrel, a gain of 0.64% that came against a backdrop of mounting uncertainty in global energy markets.

A rally unfolded in the wake of stepped-up strikes by Houthi forces in Yemen, who acknowledged carrying out the attack on Riyadh's international airport that took place on Saturday. Thirteen people lost their lives and more than 300 others sustained injuries in the attack, with Saudi authorities separately documenting casualties from a further assault that took place on Sunday.

Trump indicated that the White House was weighing a direct role for the United States alongside Saudi Arabia in military action targeting the Houthis. A further intensification of hostilities across the region took shape through these events, tracing back to military action jointly conducted by the United States and Israel against Iran in February.

On Sunday, a separate energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was among the agreements Trump disclosed, coming two days after a deal on Russian diesel supplies had been made public.

Two tankers in waters near the Strait of Hormuz came under attack over the weekend, prompting heightened attention to the safety of shipping through that passage. Two vessels reported damage in separate incidents near Oman — one hit by a drone at the Sohar anchorage, the other struck by an unidentified projectile while transiting the strait, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations.

Questions about whether the incidents could weigh on the rebound that Middle Eastern crude exports posted in September have begun to circulate among analysts and traders.

Brent crude's projected December price was lifted by Goldman Sachs to $90 a barrel, up from an earlier $85 target, with ongoing geopolitical pressures underpinning the revision. A risk premium of more than $20 per barrel has been attributed to geopolitical tensions, based on calculations put forward by a team of analysts under Daan Struyven's direction. Projections from the bank put WTI crude at an average of $81 per barrel by December 2026, falling to $73 through 2027, with the gap between WTI and Brent having widened as freight costs between the US and Europe climbed.

Offshore platforms operated by Shell, Chevron, and BP began the process of resuming activity in the Gulf of Mexico within days of Hurricane Isaias making landfall on Saturday, with crews dispatched back to their respective installations as conditions allowed.

Tensions tied to geopolitical uncertainty and weather events in key producing areas leave oil markets exposed to abrupt supply disruptions and swings in price.