Video Duration 05 minutes 35 seconds05:35
Houthi maritime blockade threatens Saudi oil exports, analyst warns
Published On 21 Jul 2026
Saudi Arabia on Monday condemned allegations by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis that Riyadh was imposing a siege on the Yemeni people, after the group announced it would impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia
Amid the disruption in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Israel war on Iran, Saudi Arabia was attempting to facilitate oil flow through alternative routes through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Now that route is under threat from the Houthis
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it would take “all necessary measures” to protect its ships
The Houthis have a track record of disrupting shipping traffic in the Red Sea. Here is a closer look at the blockade and what impact it might have beyond Saudi Arabia
What’s the latest on the blockade?
The Houthis said on Monday that they would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, opening a potential new front against the US in its war with Iran and raising the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf
In their statement, the Houthis said the declaration of the maritime embargo was “based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye’” and affirmed “the right of our great people to respond to the blockade with a blockade” and to “all escalation with escalation”
The Houthis also expressed “complete readiness for all options” and warned that “any foolish” Saudi act would be met with a “comprehensive and decisive” response
“We call upon the people of our great nation to continue the general mobilisation and general call to arms, and to be fully prepared for all scenarios and developments and to support the fronts with fighters,” the group said
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It was not immediately clear how the Houthis would implement the maritime blockade or whether it could signal a return to attacks on international shipping off the Yemeni coast
The Houthis disrupted global commerce when they began attacking ships around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait following the launch of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023. The attacks ended with the announcement of a “ceasefire” in Gaza in October 2025
The Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden is one of the world’s most important shipping routes, including for oil exports worldwide
Between Yemen to the northeast and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa to the southwest, the strait is just 29km (18 miles) wide at its narrowest point, limiting traffic to two channels for inbound and outbound vessels using the Suez Canal
In 2024, about 4.1 billion barrels of crude oil and refined petroleum products passed through the strait – about five percent of the global total
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed since Israel and the United States launched their war on Iran in late February, shutting down Bab al-Mandeb as well could block 25 percent of the world’s oil and gas supply
What is the context?
The Houthis, who seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014, accused Saudi leaders of imposing “an unjust and oppressive siege” for nearly 12 years, “plundering our reports by land, sea, and air”
Yemen has been mired in civil war for more than a decade since the Houthis seized the capital, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government
The conflict has since evolved into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, leaving the country divided between a Saudi-backed and internationally recognised government in Aden and a Houthi administration in Sanaa
Cargo ships and other vessels have regularly arrived at the port of Houthi-controlled Hodeidah, including in recent weeks, delivering food, fuel and other goods, according to shipping data
What’s the latest on the Saudi-Houthi spat?
The announcement came days after the Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia for attacking Sanaa airport, despite Yemen’s internationally recognised government claiming responsibility, saying it was to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in the capital
In response, the Houthis fired ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport, which the Saudi-led coalition said it successfully intercepted. That followed fighting between Houthi and government forces in Hodeidah, threatening four years of precarious calm since the signing of a temporary truce
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“The Houthis and the Saudis, unfortunately, have not been able to make their ceasefire hold. And it’s gone south pretty quickly. And obviously led to this, this blockade being announced,” Michael Stephens, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, told Al Jazeera
“But of course, it has to be seen within the context of everything that’s going on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, and the war that has now restarted in the Gulf between Iran and the US.”
How will this impact Saudi Arabia?
The announcement is likely to further hamper Saudi Arabia’s crucial oil exports
The East-West Pipeline, also known as the Petroline, is operated by Saudi oil giant Aramco. Aramco is one of the world’s largest companies, with a market capitalisation exceeding $1.7 trillion and annual revenues of $480bn. The oil giant controls 12 percent of global oil production with a capacity of more than 12 million barrels per day (bpd)
The 1,200km (745-mile) pipeline runs from the Abqaiq oil processing centre close to the Gulf in Saudi Arabia to the Yanbu port on the Red Sea on the other side of the country
From there, oil tankers ship the oil through Bab al-Mandeb to major Asian markets and elsewhere
Ship tracking data from Kpler and Signal Ocean showed that shipments from Yanbu averaged four million barrels per day in recent weeks, up from around 973,000 bpd a year earlier
Total petroleum volumes transiting Bab al-Mandeb were 7.4 million bpd in June, or about 7 percent of global oil output That is compared to 4.2 million bpd last year
How will the rest of the world be impacted?
In 2024, Saudi Arabia exported $187bn of crude petroleum, making crude petroleum the country’s biggest export, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)
In that year, China imported 25.6 percent of this crude petroleum, while South Korea imported 15.8 percent, Japan imported 15.4 percent, and India imported 10.5 percent
Since China and India are major buyers of Saudi crude, their refiners rely on steady Saudi volumes — all of which come through the Bab al-Mandeb. Disruptions mean higher import costs, greater reliance on spot cargoes, and potential pressure on domestic fuel prices and industry
India has also emerged as a key Asian supplier of refined petroleum products to Europe, so any sustained disruption to Saudi flows or Gulf shipping would likely push up the price of oil products exported to European markets
Stephens said the blockade would be “hugely harmful” to the oil economy
“Essentially, what you’re doing is you’re shutting off the vast majority of oil supply” from one of the world’s largest suppliers of crude in the world, he said. “And that’s going to have very deleterious effects on the oil market.”
“If you’re [US President] Donald Trump and you want to see oil down at $70 a barrel, that is not going to happen,” Stephens added
Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday, with Brent crude futures at $89.70 a barrel by 09:50 GMT. Before the US-Israel war on Iran, Brent crude futures averaged around $70 per barrel. Following the outbreak of the conflict, prices peaked at $126 per barrel
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“It is going to cause inflationary pressure in Western economies, and actually in Asian economies as well,” Stephens said. “It’s going to cause more trouble in terms of depleting oil reserves in economies that have already been struggling because of this now five-, six‑month blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.”
