Oil reserves at multidecade lows as Hormuz tanker attacks and Houthi blockade mount

Brent crude has climbed to about $110 a barrel as the Revolutionary Guard claims further tanker strikes in the Strait of Hormuz and the Houthis threaten Bab al-Mandeb, while talks to end the US-Israel war on Iran remain deadlocked. Emergency stocks, drawn down heavily since February, leave roughly 400 million usable barrels, and analysts warn a renewed full closure could exhaust the buffer within a month or two. The report shows how a widening Israel-Iran war now carries direct economic risk for import-dependent nations, a pressure point where energy shocks can drive demands for coordinated international control.