Saudi Arabia's crucial East-West oil pipeline, which transports oil to the Red Sea, was attacked on Wednesday. A pumping station along the 1,200-kilometer pipeline, vital for the kingdom's economy since the near closure of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, was hit around 1 p.m. local time. Initial assessments suggest a drone attack on one pumping station, with hopes that backup stations will prevent significant operational impact. Saudi Aramco declined to comment, while the Saudi defense ministry reported intercepting nine drones without specifying locations.
Infrared satellite data detected a 233-megawatt blaze on Lavan Island and a 125-megawatt fire at Abqaiq, a major oil processing facility at the eastern end of the pipeline. This attack occurred despite a two-week ceasefire, and it follows previous attacks in 2019 by Yemen's Houthis on pumping stations along the same line, which temporarily halted cross-country flows. Historically, the pipeline carries a fraction of its capacity, mainly supplying Saudi Aramco refineries on the Red Sea coast.
The ceasefire agreement and potential for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen initially led to a sharp drop in oil prices, with Brent crude falling 16% to $92.10 a barrel. However, no oil tankers have yet attempted to pass through the Strait. Saudi Arabia has been rerouting approximately 4.9 million barrels a day of crude oil exports via the Red Sea port of Yanbu since Iran largely shut down transit through the Strait of Hormuz. While this volume is lower than the typical 7 million barrels per day, the East-West pipeline has been critical in maintaining some export capacity.
