[00:00] First, we know there's a lot of drama going on between the Saudis and the Houthis right now because Yemen can't keep a lid on the Houthis, who are an Iranian-backed, essentially terrorist
[00:12] group. They are striking Saudi infrastructure and shipping and making it hard for the Saudis to get oil out of the region. China has reportedly, per Al Jazeera, privately asked Iranian officials to help rein in Yemeni Houthis after Saudi Arabia appealed to Beijing following the recent attacks.
[00:30] This is also convenient for China because China depends on these energy routes and lower oil prices that they can get through the Red Sea. So they can get that shipment going through the southern Bab al-Mandad Strait.
[00:43] Coming out of there, that's where the Houthis are kind of choke-pointing the Saudi oil shipments right now, affecting oil prices in China. Of course, oil prices have globally risen. We're sitting at about 103 right now on Brent, which is lower than the peak of 108 we hit when that Saudi pipeline was first struck.
[01:01] So we're seeing some relaxation right now. Could be because we expect some of these Houthi attacks to hopefully slow as China is not only trying to get the Houthis to relax,
[01:13] but China's Xi Jinping is also coming to meet Donald Trump allegedly next Thursday. So next Thursday is a quite interesting week for geopolitics.