Saudi East-West pipeline halt tightens oil markets; restart expected within days

Saudi Arabia halted pumping on its East-West (Petroline) pipeline after a Houthi drone attack on energy facilities, disrupting crude supplies while US Energy Secretary Chris Wright predicted a restart within days.

• Saudi Arabia stopped pumping on the 1,200-kilometer East-West pipeline after the attack; the Saudi energy ministry said emergency and technical teams were securing the line before resuming operations.
• Yanbu port crude loadings were suspended following the closure, while Brent futures fell 0.67% to $108.02 per barrel on Wednesday as US crude inventories rose by about 7.1 million barrels in the week ending September 11.
• Japanese refiners Ineos Holdings and Idemitsu Kosan purchased Omani crude for October loading earlier than usual, as Asian competition pushed premiums on two 2-million-barrel shipments to $38 per barrel above the Dubai benchmark.
• US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC the pipeline's restart "will be measured in days," with Saudi Arabia also arranging exports through the Strait of Hormuz with US military assistance.
• Saudi crude stocks at Egypt's Ain Sokhna and Sidi Kerir ports could give the market roughly an extra week before Red Sea exports face deeper cuts, analysts estimated.
• Satellite imagery confirmed severe damage to a main pumping station on the line, with repairs possibly taking four to six weeks.
• The closure could cut crude supplies by up to 3.6 million barrels per day, analysts said.
• Saudi Arabia attributed the attack to Iran-backed Iraqi militias rather than the Houthis.
• UK petrol prices rose to their highest level since 2022 following the attack, analysts said.
• Analysts forecast UK domestic energy price caps to rise 25% in January on the supply disruption.