On Thursday (July 30), international oil prices fell by more than 1% as investors assessed Saudi Arabia’s proposal to form a maritime defense alliance. The alliance aims to strengthen defense cooperation in the Red Sea, the Strait of Mandeb, and the Gulf of Aden in response to threats posed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea shipping lanes. The Saudi Ministry of Defense stated that 14 countries, including Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan, and Djibouti, have issued a joint statement supporting the proposal for this multinational maritime defense alliance.