diff --git a/cfa/cloudops/_cloudclient.py b/cfa/cloudops/_cloudclient.py
index e62bd9c2..3f6492c0 100644
--- a/cfa/cloudops/_cloudclient.py
+++ b/cfa/cloudops/_cloudclient.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
     BatchJobConstraints,
     BatchMetadataItem,
 )
+from azure.core.pipeline.transport import RequestsTransport
 from azure.keyvault.secrets import SecretClient
 from azure.mgmt.batch import models
 from azure.mgmt.resource.subscriptions import SubscriptionClient
@@ -155,12 +156,30 @@ def __init__(
             **kwargs,
         )
 
+        # Create a shared Azure HTTP transport so SDK clients can reuse connections.
+        self._http_transport = RequestsTransport()
+        self._http_transport.open()
+
+        def _transport() -> RequestsTransport:
+            return RequestsTransport(
+                session=self._http_transport.session,
+                session_owner=False,
+            )
+
         # get clients
         logger.debug("Getting Azure clients and setting other attributes.")
-        self.batch_mgmt_client = get_batch_management_client(self.cred)
-        self.compute_mgmt_client = get_compute_management_client(self.cred)
-        self.batch_service_client = get_batch_service_client(self.cred)
-        self.blob_service_client = get_blob_service_client(self.cred)
+        self.batch_mgmt_client = get_batch_management_client(
+            self.cred, transport=_transport()
+        )
+        self.compute_mgmt_client = get_compute_management_client(
+            self.cred, transport=_transport()
+        )
+        self.batch_service_client = get_batch_service_client(
+            self.cred, transport=_transport()
+        )
+        self.blob_service_client = get_blob_service_client(
+            self.cred, transport=_transport()
+        )
 
         # set other defaults
         self.full_container_name = None
@@ -169,6 +188,10 @@ def __init__(
         self.task_id_ints = False
         self.task_id_max = 0
 
+    def close(self) -> None:
+        """Close the shared HTTP transport used by Azure SDK clients."""
+        self._http_transport.close()
+
     def check_credentials(self) -> pd.DataFrame:
         """Check credentials and return accessible Azure resource information.
 
diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
index 6a02a2a2..e70898de 100644
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 The versioning pattern is `major.minor.patch`.
 
 ---
+## 1.2.0
+
+- reuse HTTP connections across the core Azure SDK clients created by `CloudClient`
+- add explicit cleanup for the shared HTTP transport
 ## 1.1.1
 
 - add notebook-friendly progress bars for task-stat writing and blob download, deletion, and protection operations
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index bd080532..dab2a62d 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "cfa.cloudops"
-version = "1.1.1"
+version = "1.2.0"
 description = "Cloud storage, batch, functions, MLOps assistance"
 authors = [
     {name = "Ryan Raasch", email = "xng3@cdc.gov"}
diff --git a/tests/test_cloudclient.py b/tests/test_cloudclient.py
index 1666c382..bad014f8 100644
--- a/tests/test_cloudclient.py
+++ b/tests/test_cloudclient.py
@@ -433,6 +433,63 @@ def test_cloudclient_init_with_env_credentials(
         mock_compute_management_client.assert_called_once()
 
 
+def test_cloudclient_reuses_http_session_across_azure_clients(
+    mock_env_vars,
+    mock_batch_service_client,
+    mock_batch_management_client,
+    mock_blob_service_client,
+    mock_compute_management_client,
+):
+    with patch(
+        "cfa.cloudops._cloudclient.DefaultCredentialHandler"
+    ) as mock_cred_handler:
+        mock_cred_handler.return_value = MagicMock()
+
+        client = CloudClient(dotenv_path=None, use_sp=False, use_federated=False)
+
+        client_factories = [
+            mock_batch_management_client,
+            mock_compute_management_client,
+            mock_batch_service_client,
+            mock_blob_service_client,
+        ]
+
+        transports = [
+            factory.call_args.kwargs["transport"] for factory in client_factories
+        ]
+
+        sessions = [transport.session for transport in transports]
+
+        assert all(session is client._http_transport.session for session in sessions)
+
+        shared_session = client._http_transport.session
+
+        with patch.object(shared_session, "close") as mock_close:
+            transports[0].close()
+
+        mock_close.assert_not_called()
+
+
+def test_cloudclient_close_closes_shared_http_session(
+    mock_env_vars,
+    mock_batch_service_client,
+    mock_batch_management_client,
+    mock_blob_service_client,
+    mock_compute_management_client,
+):
+    with patch(
+        "cfa.cloudops._cloudclient.DefaultCredentialHandler"
+    ) as mock_cred_handler:
+        mock_cred_handler.return_value = MagicMock()
+
+        client = CloudClient(dotenv_path=None, use_sp=False, use_federated=False)
+
+        with patch.object(client._http_transport, "close") as mock_close:
+            client.close()
+
+        mock_close.assert_called_once_with()
+
+
 def test_cloudclient_init_with_default_credentials(
     mock_env_vars,
     mock_batch_service_client,
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 5c04e86a..1dfecd7b 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "cfa-cloudops"
-version = "1.1.1"
+version = "1.2.0"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "anyio" },