Saudi Arabia's energy facilities were attacked and oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz were attacked one after another. International oil prices soared overnight.

As attacks on Saudi Arabia's energy infrastructure escalated, and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz threatened the flow of global oil supplies, international oil prices rose sharply on Thursday (12th), closing up about US$3 per barrel.

Brent crude oil futures closed at $95.82 a barrel, up $3.06, or 3.3%.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures in New York closed at $88.74 a barrel, up $2.21, or 2.6%.

However, based on performance so far this week, the prices of the two major crude oil benchmarks are still down about 2.5%.

Crude oil prices were volatile in trading that day, rebounding after falling in early trading. The Yemeni armed rebel group Houthis (also known as the Houthis) said it had attacked an oil station on Saudi Arabia's east-west oil pipeline, an oil facility in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, and an Aramco building in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Later, the Saudi-led military coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed two drones launched by the youth movement, one in the Riyadh area and the other in the kingdom's oil-rich Eastern Province.

In the Persian Gulf, oil tankers are still on fire, pollution from oil spills is washing ashore on the waves, and drones and missiles have also attacked infrastructure across the region. The Iranian military said on Thursday that four oil tankers were attacked by explosions in the Strait of Hormuz after ignoring warnings. Reuters was unable to immediately verify Iran's claims at the time.

On the other hand, Ukraine said its drone hit the Ust-Luga port area on Russia's northwest Baltic coast, causing a fire and damaging part of the local fuel storage tank network. This is the latest attack by Ukraine on Russian energy infrastructure in recent times. Ust-Luga is an important Russian export port for crude oil, petroleum products and grains, and is also responsible for exporting other bulk commodities.

"Reciprocal retaliation between Russia and Ukraine, as well as attacks on shipping by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are starting to put additional upward pressure on oil prices," said Timothy Snyder, chief economist at Matador Economics.

"It seems that investors are getting tired of hearing the same thing over and over again about the prospects for peace," he said.

During early trading in Asia, oil prices fell by $1, and then changed after U.S. President Trump posted on social media that Washington did not need to reach a deal with Iran. "Those days are long gone," Trump wrote. "We've got their money, hundreds of billions of dollars, and we control their straits!"