Saudi Arabia shuts key oil pipeline after drone attack as oil prices surge

Saudi Arabia on Friday halted operations on its strategically important East-West oil pipeline after a drone attack on Thursday in the Riyadh and Medina regions injured several people. The disruption coincided with a sharp rise in world oil prices.

The attack and its aftermath

Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said on X that the pipeline had been shut "as a precaution" and that necessary measures had been taken to secure it. The pipeline, over 1,200 kilometres long, links oilfields near the Persian Gulf with the Red Sea, allowing crude to bypass the effectively blocked Strait of Hormuz. According to SZ.de, it can carry up to seven million barrels of oil per day.

US broadcaster CNN, citing US government officials, reported that the pipeline was struck by drones launched from Iraq. Late Friday, Saudi Arabia confirmed this account, adding that at the request of Iraq's prime minister it would not take retaliatory action for now, while reserving the right to take all necessary steps to protect its sovereignty, security and critical infrastructure. No party has officially been named as responsible, though several Iran-backed militias operate in Iraq.

Satellite images cited by CNN and The Wall Street Journal show significant fire damage at one pump station and thick black smoke at another. The exact extent of the damage and repair timeline remain unclear. Sources disagree on when the pipeline was previously attacked: Spiegel cites an attack in late July, while SZ.de refers to an incident in April that temporarily forced a reduction in the pipeline's capacity.

Wider context

The pipeline's importance has grown since the Iran war began in late February, after which shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was effectively halted due to Iranian threats and attacks on vessels — before the war, roughly a fifth of global oil and LNG exports passed through the strait. As SZ.de reports, Saudi Arabia now faces pressure from another direction as well: Iran-aligned Houthi militants in Yemen have seized the entire Yemeni Red Sea coastline, including the strategically important island of Mayun, threatening the Bab al-Mandab strait too. A Houthi spokesman said on Friday that shipping safety would be guaranteed — except for Saudi vessels.

Oil prices

According to SZ.de, the price of Brent crude for November delivery briefly touched nearly $110 a barrel on Friday, up from around $70 in February before the war. Analyst Hamad Hussain of Capital Economics said the Houthi advance and pipeline damage could push prices toward $120 a barrel, though that would still fall short of this year's high of roughly $126, reached at the end of April.