# Factbox: Risks to Middle East oil and gas shipping routes

> A Reuters factbox outlines the risks to Middle East oil and gas shipping routes. A blockage of the Bab al-Mandeb strait at the southern end of the Red Sea would virtually halt oil shipments through the Suez Canal and the SUMED pipeline. Those routes link the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

- Date: 2018-07-26 · published 2018-07-26T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: geopolitics · region Middle East · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/63929-factbox-risks-to-middle-east-oil-and-gas-shipping-routes
- Commodities: [Crude Oil (Brent)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BRENT.md), [Crude Oil (WTI)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/WTI.md)

## Why it matters

Any threat to Red Sea chokepoints raises freight, insurance and delivery risk for crude moving to Europe and Asia. That tends to lift crude benchmarks and related energy costs that feed into feed production and transport.

## Read by commodity

- WTI: bullish ▲
- BRENT: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| BRENT | 2026-07-29 | [Middle East strikes and shrinking US crude stocks send oil prices up](https://feedsoft.ai/events/18518-middle-east-strikes-and-shrinking-us-crude-stocks-send-oil-prices-up.md) | -2.3% | +4.3% |
| BRENT | 2026-03-02 | [Shipping disrupted in the Middle East \| World Grain](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16876-shipping-disrupted-in-the-middle-east-world-grain.md) | +31.0% | +62.6% |
| BRENT | 2026-03-01 | [Oil and gas prices surge as Iran war disrupts Middle Eastern output \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/5228-oil-and-gas-prices-surge-as-iran-war-disrupts-middle-eastern-output-reuters.md) | +31.0% | +62.6% |
| BRENT | 2024-10-22 | [Oil settles up 2% as Middle East war rages and supplies tighten](https://feedsoft.ai/events/28035-oil-settles-up-2-as-middle-east-war-rages-and-supplies-tighten.md) | -2.9% | +0.0% |
| BRENT | 2018-04-15 | [Bullish forecast for oil prices as Middle East tensions rise](https://feedsoft.ai/events/65725-bullish-forecast-for-oil-prices-as-middle-east-tensions-rise.md) | +2.0% | +6.0% |
| WTI | 2026-07-29 | [Middle East strikes and shrinking US crude stocks send oil prices up](https://feedsoft.ai/events/18518-middle-east-strikes-and-shrinking-us-crude-stocks-send-oil-prices-up.md) | -4.4% | +3.8% |
| WTI | 2026-03-02 | [Shipping disrupted in the Middle East \| World Grain](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16876-shipping-disrupted-in-the-middle-east-world-grain.md) | +35.6% | +50.4% |
| WTI | 2026-03-01 | [Oil and gas prices surge as Iran war disrupts Middle Eastern output \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/5228-oil-and-gas-prices-surge-as-iran-war-disrupts-middle-eastern-output-reuters.md) | +35.6% | +50.4% |

## Sources

- reuters.com: https://www.reuters.com/article/world/factbox-risks-to-middle-east-oil-and-gas-shipping-routes-idUSKBN1KG2IA/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.