Key Points
- Riyadh shut the 1,200km East-West crude pipeline after attacks Thursday in the Riyadh and Madinah regions
- The line carries crude to Yanbu on the Red Sea, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz
- Brent settled at $104.56 a barrel Friday, up more than 8% over the week
The latest:
Saudi Arabia’s East-West crude pipeline, the kingdom’s main route for bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, was shut down Thursday after what an energy ministry source described as several attacks in the Riyadh and Madinah regions. The source, quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency, said the closure was precautionary and that the attacks caused a number of injuries. Treatment was provided to those hurt.
Details:
- The infrastructure: The 1,200km pipeline moves crude from the main oilfields in the kingdom’s east to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. It has allowed Saudi Arabia to keep exporting millions of barrels a day despite Iranian restrictions on tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
- The official account: The ministry source said emergency and specialised technical teams began work immediately after the attacks, taking steps to secure the line and verify its integrity under approved safety and emergency plans, in coordination with relevant authorities. Updates would be announced in due course.
- Restart timeline: The ministry source did not say how long repairs or safety checks would take, nor when pumping would resume along the route. No figure was given for the volume of crude affected by the shutdown.
- Market reaction: Benchmark Brent crude settled at $104.56 a barrel on Friday after rising more than 8% over the week. Prices climbed sharply once reports of the pipeline attack began circulating on Thursday, adding to pressure already building in the market.
- US official’s claim: CNN reported that the pipeline was struck by drones that originated from Iraq, citing an unnamed US official. Iran-backed militias in Iraq have previously fired missiles and drones at the kingdom during the US and Israeli war with Iran.
- Satellite imagery: Satellite images on Thursday showed multiple plumes of smoke near the pipeline route, according to the reporting on the incident.
- Houthi escalation: Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired waves of missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia this week, targeting energy facilities in the kingdom’s south. No party has been named as responsible for the strikes on the East-West line itself.
- Wider chokepoint risk: Oil markets were also unsettled by the Houthis’ advance in Yemen, which has cemented their control over the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and strengthened their ability to threaten shipping through the waterway linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
- Export weight: Saudi Arabia has been the world’s largest crude oil exporter for decades, which is why disruption to a single overland route carries global price consequences rather than purely domestic ones.
Background:
The East-West line was built to give Saudi crude an outlet that avoids the Gulf entirely. With Iranian restrictions on Hormuz tanker traffic already in force, it had become the kingdom’s principal workaround for reaching global buyers.
Between the lines:
The two chokepoints Saudi exports depend on are now both under pressure at once: Hormuz is restricted by Iran, and Bab al-Mandeb is exposed to Houthi control following their Yemen advance. That leaves the Yanbu overland route as the relief valve, which explains why an attack far from the oilfields moved Brent more than 8% in a week.
What’s next
Watch for the energy ministry’s next update on the line’s safety assessment and any restart date, along with Brent’s open after a week that closed at $104.56, and whether the US official’s Iraq-origin drone account draws official comment.
