Arabian Post Staff -Dubai
Brent crude climbed $1.24 to $106.93 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate gained $1.29 to $102.65 in Asian trading. The move followed another wave of Houthi attacks on Saudi targets and concern that a prolonged outage of the East-West route could remove a major alternative to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said the 1,200-kilometre pipeline was shut as a precaution after multiple attacks on September 10 in the Riyadh and Madinah regions. The strikes caused injuries, while emergency and technical teams were deployed to secure the system and assess its condition. Saudi authorities have not announced when the pipeline will restart.
The Foreign Ministry later said several drones launched from Iraq had targeted the pipeline, causing injuries and damage. Riyadh said it had chosen not to respond at that stage after Iraq’s prime minister requested time to take measures preventing attacks from Iraqi territory, while reserving the right to protect Saudi sovereignty, security and facilities.
The pipeline carries crude from eastern producing areas to the Red Sea port of Yanbu and has become increasingly important as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been constrained by the wider regional conflict. Market participants estimate that roughly 4 million barrels a day, equivalent to about 4 per cent of global oil supply, could ultimately be exposed if the route remains unavailable and other export options stay restricted.
The latest pressure came as Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis launched further attacks on Saudi Arabia and advanced along Yemen’s western coast. Saudi Civil Defence later issued an all-clear for six cities, including Yanbu, after emergency alerts had been activated. The immediate warning eased, but the broader threat to oil infrastructure and Red Sea shipping remained a focus for energy markets.
The disruption has added to concern over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, another strategic shipping corridor linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Any sustained interference there would complicate the movement of Saudi crude from Yanbu at a time when the Hormuz route is already under strain.
Saudi Arabia has significant storage and export infrastructure on the Red Sea coast, but market concern has centred on how long those stocks can cover normal overseas sales if the pipeline remains offline. Traders and buyers have indicated that inventories at ports may provide only a limited buffer before export volumes would have to be reduced.
Aramco has previously highlighted the East-West pipeline, storage capacity and alternative export terminals as central to maintaining supply during disruptions in the Gulf. The company said earlier this year that regional instability and problems affecting key shipping routes had forced it to reroute oil and product flows while seeking to preserve deliveries to international customers.
Oil prices have also been supported by the postponement of planned talks between Gulf states and Iran over navigation and security in the Strait of Hormuz. The delay reduced hopes of a near-term diplomatic mechanism to ease shipping restrictions and came as attacks by Iran-aligned groups widened pressure on Saudi infrastructure.
The market remains highly sensitive to any indication that the East-West pipeline could return to service. A restart would restore an important bypass around Hormuz and improve Saudi Arabia’s ability to move crude westward, while a prolonged shutdown would leave exporters more dependent on constrained maritime routes and stored supplies.
The latest rise in crude has also revived concerns about inflation and transport costs in major importing economies. Higher oil prices have already fed into expectations for interest rates and currency markets, particularly in countries heavily reliant on imported energy.
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