Saudi Arabia shuts East-West pipeline after Iran‑backed militia attack, spurring oil price surge

Saudi Arabia announced the shutdown of its East-West pipeline on Friday after a drone strike it attributes to Iranian‑backed militias in Iraq.

East-West pipeline outage shakes global oil market

The 1,200‑km conduit, built in the 1980s to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, moves between ↑ $105 per barrel Brent and a daily flow of 2.6‑4 million barrels toward the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Repairs are estimated to take ↓ 3 weeks, officials said.

With the pipeline offline, Saudi crude must again rely on the Hormuz corridor, where traffic remains well below pre‑war levels (Reuters). The loss threatens 4% of global oil supply, according to the International Energy Agency, and could tighten already strained markets.

“The market is already pricing in a significant supply gap,” warned Janiv Shah, vice‑president of oil markets at Rystad Energy.

Houthi attacks on the Bab el‑Mandeb Strait have further constrained alternative routes, pushing many Saudi tankers northward through the Suez. Analysts at Bloomberg caution that sustained disruptions may ripple into higher fuel and fertilizer costs for consumers worldwide.

Intel provided by Tariq Al-Fayed (Middle East Geopolitical Strategist).