Saudi Arabia shuts key oil pipeline after attacks

Saudi Arabia on Friday announced the shutdown of its East-West oil pipeline after multiple attacks struck infrastructure in the Riyadh and Madinah regions on Thursday morning, the Ministry of Energy said in a statement carried by the state SPA news agency. Several people were injured in the attacks, and the pipeline was closed as a precautionary measure while emergency teams work to assess its safety.dailysabah+3

The shutdown threatens to choke off Saudi Arabia's last reliable oil export route. The pipeline, which can carry up to seven million barrels per day, has served as the kingdom's primary workaround since the U.S.-Iran war effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz six months ago. Saudi Arabia had been routing roughly five million barrels per day through the pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.saudigazette+1

A Tightening Noose

The pipeline attack came as Iran-backed Houthi rebels completed a rapid advance down Yemen's Red Sea coast, capturing the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Friday, according to Reuters. The Houthis also seized the coastal town of Dhubab and the port city of Mocha earlier in the week, giving them an unprecedented ability to threaten shipping through the strait — the other major route for Saudi oil exports.nbcnews+1

Satellite imagery verified by Reuters showed a smoke plume along the pipeline route on Thursday, with NASA fire detection systems registering thermal anomalies at several sites where pipeline infrastructure is located. Saudi Arabia did not officially attribute the attacks, though the Houthis had struck civilian and energy targets across the kingdom's south earlier in the week.reuters+2

Diplomatic Opening, Military Isolation

Saudi crude supply had already fallen to six million barrels per day in August — the lowest in more than three decades — partly due to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, the International Energy Agency said Friday. Global oil prices were on track to end the week above $100 a barrel for the first time since mid-May.reuters

A potential diplomatic opening emerged Friday when Iran confirmed that Gulf Arab states would meet in Oman on Monday to discuss safe shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. But Saudi Arabia found itself increasingly isolated militarily. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called President Trump twice on Thursday requesting U.S. strikes against the Houthis, but Washington declined to take direct military action, offering intelligence support instead, sources told Reuters and Axios.fortune+1

Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at King's College London, warned that the Houthis were now "attacking both pillars of Saudi security simultaneously: southern Saudi territory and the Kingdom's Red Sea strategic depth." He added: "Riyadh still desperately wants to avoid another 2015-style war. But its room for restraint is narrowing."nbcnews