Meanwhile, China emerges as backer of Iran, Russia hostilities: File Image/Pixabay

Despite incurring losses in the previous session, oil remained firmly above the $100 threshold on Monday thanks to a 1 percent rise spurred by further Iran-backed Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure.

Brent settled up $1.07, or 1 percent, at $105.68 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate settled up $1.34, or 1.3 percent, at $101.39.

The Houthis advanced their prominence in Yemen after seizing control on Friday of  Perim Island at the mouth of the Red Sea and knocking out the 750-mile Saudi east-west pipeline, which allowed for crude to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

The pipeline transported 7 million barrels per day of crude to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, and while damage to the infrastructure was unclear, officials closed the system as a precautionary measure – which, according to traders, could cut off up to 4 percent of global oil supply if it stays down.

The Houthis claimed to have fired dozens of missiles and drones at a military airbase in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia, targeting aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots; this was in retaliation for Saudi airstrikes in Yemen.

Meanwhile, traffic through the Hormuz continued to ebb and flow: Kpler reported that 14 ships made the passage on Sunday, twice the number than the day before; however, after a ship was hit while making the transition, Ana Subasic, a trade risk analyst at Kpler, warned that conditions in the waterway were “escalating,” and “Now it’s a question of is this something that escalates further, or is this a cycle to bring it back to the negotiating table?”

Casting a shadow over the Middle East hostilities was China, which reportedly was helping Iran by sending a block train of 55 cars containing goods (what, specifically, was not clear) to the Islamic republic; a report published by Reuters suggested  that Beijing is helping to prop up Tehran similar to the way it has supplied goods to Russia to maintain its war against Ukraine.

The report stated that China and Iran’s bartering system facilitates Iranian oil exports in return for Chinese medicine, vehicles, military gear, and air defense equipment, with the trade value  estimated at $2-$2.5 billion.