SAUDI ARABIA/YEMEN/IRAN/REGIONAL

Risk Premium Returns As Saudi Strikes Yemen Rebels, Iran Confrontation Widens

Global oil prices were jolted out of their recent stupor early on 26 March after Saudi Arabia announced the start of air strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Brent blend futures rose by 6% amid fears that the impoverished state of Yemen, which shares a long border with Saudi Arabia (see map), might become the latest arena for a wider Middle Eastern conflict that...