EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Red Sea risk to oil ‘very real,’ prices could change rapidly if supply disrupted, Chevron CEO says.

The British oil major Shell has suspended shipments through the Red Sea, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday. Shell declined to comment in response to a request from CNBC.

Shell’s decision to halt shipments through the crucial trade chokepoint comes about a month after BP paused transits through the Red Sea. Several major tanker companies, which transport petroleum products such as gasoline as well as crude oil, halted traffic toward the Red Sea on Friday.

Houthi militants, who are based in Yemen and allied with Iran, have repeatedly attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s war in Gaza. The U.S. and Britain have launched airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen to secure shipping through the waterway.

The Houthis have continued to launch attacks despite the U.S.-led strikes. The militants on Tuesday launched an antiship ballistic missile that struck a Maltese-flagged bulk carrier in the Red Sea, according to U.S. Central Command. No injuries were reported and the vessel continued to transit the waterway, according to CENTCOM.

Just a reminder that the Houthis are armed and financed by Iran, which benefits from higher oil prices and from Biden’s relaxation of Trump’s sanctions.