Oil prices slip as tankers continue to ply Middle East conflict zones

The Iran-backed group in Yemen said on July 20 that ⁠it ​would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red ​Sea, expanding attacks on tankers and opening another new front in the Iran War in a push to also disrupt shipping in ​the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the second most important oil shipping channel.

Thirty-nine commodity ​ships passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait into the Red Sea on Tuesday, the highest ⁠number since July 19, with only a few transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, preliminary shipping data ​showed.-Iran war in February despite efforts to reach a diplomatic ‌breakthrough ⁠on the passage of ships through the strait.