The world’s largest crude oil exporter temporarily closed the pipeline, which runs from the Abqaiq oil field to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, after a drone attack that both Baghdad and Riyadh said had originated in Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias operate. Iraq dismissed a military commander on Saturday in response to the attack.
The 1,200-kilometre pipeline running across the Arabian Peninsula had helped Saudi Arabia to bypass a shipping logjam in the Strait of Hormuz, where tanker traffic has slowed to a trickle due to the war started by the United States and Israel against Iran.
The Saudi energy ministry said it had shut the pipeline as a precaution. The line has been moving four million to five million barrels per day in recent months, amounting to 4 percent to 5 percent of global supply, according to ship tracking companies and analysts.
The attack comes as Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen tightened their grip in the Red Sea, which combined with the Strait of Hormuz disruptions has put an energy squeeze on both sides of the Arabian Peninsula and sent global oil prices back above US$100 per barrel.
Four Yemeni government sources said Houthis had seized the strategic island of Perim on Friday at the mouth of the Red Sea in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The dual attacks reported on Friday – on the pipeline and Perim island – could represent a dangerous escalation while diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled.
Saudi Arabia has asked Washington for military help with the Houthis, sources said, at a time when higher fuel prices during the war have already exacted a political toll on US President Donald Trump and his Republican Party ahead of November congressional elections.
The East-West pipeline was hit on Thursday morning in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and Medina regions, the Saudi energy ministry said.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes. Satellite images showed black smoke rising from an area of the pipeline south of Medina. The attack resulted in some injuries and damage that was being assessed, the Saudi foreign ministry said without detailing the impact on exports.
The cashiered Iraqi military commander had led operations in Maysan province, according to Saturday’s statement by the Iraqi prime minister’s office. Maysan province, which borders Iran in southeastern Iraq, has long been regarded as an area where Iran-backed Shi’ite militias operate and maintain influence.
Saudi Arabia has opted against retaliation so far following a request from the Iraqi prime minister, the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement, while adding the kingdom reserves the right to “take all measures necessary” to protect its interests. Iraq’s government condemned attacks.
Saudi crude supply fell to the lowest levels in more than three decades, the International Energy Agency said on Friday, partly due to attacks on ships transiting Bab el-Mandeb by Houthi-linked groups.
Iraq responded by ordering the closure of the Shalamcheh border crossing between Iraq and Iran as a precautionary measure, two security sources said. The crossing serves as one of the main routes for imports to Iraq of vegetables and other food supplies from Iran.
The two sources said a widescale operation was under way to find those responsible for the pipeline attack.
If the Houthis gain control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, their backer Iran could gain a critical advantage in its war with the United States. (Reuters)
