Pipeline Crippled
Drone strikes force Saudi Arabia to shut its main Red Sea oil pipeline for weeks, tightening global crude supply.
Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline will stay mostly shut for weeks after a drone strike, two regional officials told the Associated Press.
The pipeline, known as Petroline, runs 1,200 kilometers from oil fields near Abqaiq to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, Al Jazeera reported. Near Riyadh and Medina, drones hit the pipeline in two spots last Thursday, causing injuries and damage, according to a statement from Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry carried by Al Jazeera.
Saudi Arabia leans on the pipeline to dodge the Strait of Hormuz, largely closed since the United States and Israel went to war with Iran in February, Al Jazeera reported. Flows through the pipeline climbed to roughly 4 million to 5 million barrels a day during the war's first five months. They fell to about 2 million barrels a day in August as Houthi attacks made the Red Sea route harder to use, trade firm Kpler told Al Jazeera.
Brent crude touched $108 a barrel Tuesday, BBC News reported, after Saudi Arabia announced Friday it was shutting the pipeline as a precaution. Prices had already climbed more than 2%, the Associated Press reported. Kpler's Homayoun Falakshahi estimated the shutdown could cut supply by as much as 3.6 million barrels a day. Close to 3.6% of world demand.
Satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify show the worst damage at a pumping station along the line. Falakshahi told the BBC repairs could take four to six weeks given limited spare parts. Reuters sources put the timeline at five to six weeks, according to Al Jazeera. One source said it could reopen sooner.
Saudi Arabia traced the drone launch to Maysan province in southern Iraq, near the Iranian border, Al Jazeera reported. Retaliation will wait, at Baghdad's request. Iraq's prime minister fired the military commander who oversaw operations in Maysan and ordered an investigation, according to Al Jazeera.
The strike landed alongside a Houthi offensive along Yemen's coast. Houthi fighters seized islands near the Bab al-Mandab strait last week, the Associated Press reported, tightening their grip on a shipping corridor linking Europe and Asia. More than 100,000 people have been displaced by the renewed fighting, the UN refugee agency said, according to BBC News.
Yanbu's storage can keep exports moving for five to seven days without the pipeline. Egyptian facilities can add a bit more, sources told Al Jazeera. Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's government warned it would respond "firmly" to future Houthi attacks, according to BBC News.