Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Yemen’s government forces said on October 5 they have launched a “strategic offensive” on the capital Sanaa, which is held by the Houthi movement. Military sources said the attacks are being mounted along three fronts from the north, west and south. The Houthis control Sanaa and large parts of northwestern Yemen, where most of the country’s population lives.

TREE NEWS update: Israel began ceremonies on October 5 marking three years since the October 7, 2023 outbreak of the latest Israel-Hamas war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an address reiterating a hardline military stance toward the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and issued a direct threat against Iran, saying the Iranian regime will eventually disappear.

TREE NEWS reports: The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz was hailed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which ordered the vessel to turn back or be struck. The incident, reported by UKMTO, involved a single tanker on the key oil shipping route.

TREE NEWS reports: An Omani first officer who attacked a captain aboard a Dubai Aviation passenger jet had begun planning the assault before joining the airline, an informed Israeli official said. Israeli sources familiar with UAE investigation details said Hammam Hamami had intended to carry out an attack on one of his flights to Tel Aviv over the past year but ultimately abandoned the plan.

TREE NEWS update: The European Commission said it is prepared to convene its oil coordination group and energy security working group. A Commission spokesperson gave no timing for any meeting or further detail on the circumstances that would trigger it. The two bodies are the Commission’s standing mechanisms for coordinating oil supply among member states and for handling energy security contingencies.

TREE NEWS update: BP has adjusted its refineries to shift production emphasis from jet fuel to diesel, CEO said, adding the company does not intend to pull back from the Middle East. BP is working with the Iraqi government to assess new export route options, including a northern corridor.

TREE NEWS update: Canadian energy company Cenovus Energy will acquire Athabasca Oil in a cash-and-stock deal valuing the target at C$12.00 per share. The transaction was announced as a per-share combination of cash and Cenovus stock. No further terms or timetable were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: Yemen’s government forces said on the 5th they had taken control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key international shipping chokepoint, shortly after the Presidential Leadership Council announced the launch of “Yemen Dawn” operations. Houthi sources said fighting for control of the strait is still ongoing.

TREE NEWS reports: Bitcoin held above $85,000 after a weak September jobs report lowered the odds of another Federal Reserve rate hike this month. The rally toward its late-September peak ran out of steam short of $87,000. The data shifted rate expectations while leaving the largest cryptocurrency rangebound above the $85,000 level.

TREE NEWS update: Sweden’s Karolinska Institute announced on October 5 local time that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three scientists. The announcement was made at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. No further details on the laureates were provided in the initial statement.

TREE NEWS reports: China recorded 305.39 million cross-region passenger trips on Oct 4, up 1.3% from a year earlier, the Ministry of Transport said. Over the first four days of the National Day holiday, from Oct 1 to Oct 4, cross-region trips totaled 1.244 billion, roughly flat versus the same period last year.

TREE NEWS reports: Eurozone producer prices rose 8.2% year-on-year in August, above the 7.9% expected and accelerating from 5.8% in July. The hotter-than-forecast print marks a sharp pickup in pipeline inflation across the currency bloc.

TREE NEWS update: Saudi Aramco’s CEO said the company is continuing to export crude through Yanbu, Sidi Kerir and Port Said, and that it holds substantial inventory in the system to supply customers. He said Aramco will produce about 9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day of gas by 2040, and warned Brent could reach $200 a barrel without the East-West pipeline, noting physical crude has at times traded $20-50 a barrel above the Brent benchmark.

TREE NEWS reports: Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline is operating normally, people familiar with the matter said. Brent crude fell $0.74 a barrel within five minutes to $101.81 a barrel following the report.

TREE NEWS reports: Brent crude oil broke above $103 a barrel, trading at $103.08, up 0.73% intraday. The move marks a fresh push higher for the international benchmark.

TREE NEWS update: Saudi Aramco CEO said the company could supply 12 million barrels per day within days if asked. He said Aramco has never tapped its strategic product reserves and is currently meeting all customer demand. Aramco is advancing engineering work on a fourth and fifth export route, and he said the world needs at least 2 million bpd of additional supply over the next 18 months to rebuild current inventories.

TREE NEWS update: Russia’s Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev said Ukrainian forces struck two facilities at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant early on Wednesday, including one used to handle radioactive waste, adding there is currently no nuclear safety threat. Likhachev also said Ukrainian forces have systematically attacked the nearby Zaporizhzhia thermal power plant over the past two weeks, whose equipment operation directly affects the nuclear plant’s safety. Nuclear plant staff continue to safeguard the site.

TREE NEWS reports: Saudi Arabia’s East-West crude oil pipeline has suspended operations after being attacked again. Brent crude futures reversed earlier losses to trade higher on the day at $102.305 a barrel following the disruption.

TREE NEWS reports: The UK’s September services PMI came in at 52.1 on a final basis, above the 51.7 flash reading and the 51.7 consensus estimate. The reading keeps the UK services sector in expansion territory for the month, with the final figure revised up from the preliminary print.

TREE NEWS reports: Eurozone Sentix investor confidence index came in at 2.7 for October, below the expected 4.5 and down from 5.1 in the prior month. The reading marks a further deterioration in sentiment across the currency bloc.