Oil prices extend rally to near six-month high amid Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia

A drone view shows fuel vessels docked at the Baniyas oil terminal in Baniyas, Syria, October 12, 2026. | Photo Credit: Reuters Oil prices extended their rally from Thursday (October 22, 2026) as it breached the $115 per barrel-mark Thursday a day after Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia’s civilian and energy infrastructure.The latest escalation has spiralled oil prices to a near six-month high amid renewed tensions about disruptions to global oil supplies.At the time of writing Friday (October 23, 2026) evening, benchmark Brent crude futures for December delivery had scaled an intraday high of $115.14 per barrel, up 1.74% from their previous close.West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was also up 1.81% at $101.26 per barrel.India’s crude oil basket averaged $119.99 per barrel on Friday, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).The Indian basket has averaged $120.08 per barrel till date in the ongoing month.The latest benchmark prices are much higher than the Reserve Bank of India’s projections of crude oil prices being at $95 per barrel in the second half of the fiscal year.An increase in crude oil prices elevates concerns of persisting inflation.According to estimates by Vipul Jindal and Tanay Dalal, economists at private-lender Axis Bank, public sector support of approximately 1.7% of GDP would cushion shocks when average oil prices stay at $100 per barrel this year.“Every $10 per barrel increase in crude [but pump prices steady], will raise support by 20 bps,” they estimate.Adani Gas increases CNG prices amid higher LNG pricesAmid higher input gas pressures, Adani Total Gas on Friday increased the prices of compressed natural gas (CNG) at its retail stations by ₹4.45 per kg.CNG at its outlets in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad is now priced at ₹98.47 per kg, ₹102.6 per kg in Haryana’s Faridabad and ₹106.4 per kg in Rajasthan’s Udaipur.On a standalone basis, the company operates 723 refuelling outlets across the country.In a statement, it explained that the price revision was necessitated by a “substantial rise in natural gas procurement costs, reflecting elevated global gas prices amid geopolitical developments, lower availability of domestic gas and ongoing supply curtailments”.It added separately that spot purchases of liquefied natural gas have increased from $10-12 per MMBtu in February to about $30 per MMBtu at present. Published - October 23, 2026 06:12 pm IST