WTI was also sharply higher, with the entire Brent forward curve moving higher as traders priced in a greater risk of prolonged supply disruptions. The latest leg higher follows Houthi claims that the group struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait after declaring a naval blockade of Saudi exports earlier this week. The move marks another escalation for a market that had spent weeks betting geopolitical risk would ease. Kazakhstan has begun cutting oil production after drone attacks shut down tanker loadings at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on the Black Sea. Those expectations have unraveled quickly as the conflict has expanded from Hormuz to the Red Sea, placing two of the world's most important oil shipping routes under simultaneous threat.