New York, 25 Mar The price of Texas intermediate oil (WTI) rose 1.4% on Friday to $113.90 a barrel in reaction to a new attack by the Yemeni Houthi rebels on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. According to data at the end of operations on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), WTI futures contracts for delivery in May totaled $1.56 compared to the previous close. US benchmark oil had started the day down but became more expensive after reports of a fire at the facilities of state-owned Aramco in the Saudi city of Jeddah, in a missile attack claimed by the Houthi rebels. With today's turn, Texas closes this volatile week with a revaluation of almost 8%, while in the last month, marked by the war in Ukraine, the rise rises to 23%. Before the war, the market was already very tight due to the growing global demand generated by the economic recovery following the covid-19 crisis and limited supply. This week, the mood calmed down after the European Union's refusal to veto Russian hydrocarbons, although the countries of the International Energy Agency pledged to reduce their imports of gas and oil from that country. US trade reserves fell again this week, contributing to historically low levels for this time of year, and experts point out that global reserves have been at their lowest level for eight years. On the other hand, natural gas contracts for delivery in April rose another 17 cents to $5.57 per thousand cubic feet, and gasoline contracts due the same month totaled 8 cents to $3.47 per gallon. CHIEF nqs/dmt