Saudi Arabia shuts vital East-West oil pipeline after attacks as Houthis tighten Red Sea threat

Saudi Arabia has temporarily shut its strategically vital East-West oil pipeline after attacks struck the cross-country network, opening another front of vulnerability for global energy supplies as Houthi advances in Yemen simultaneously threaten shipping through the Red Sea.

The Saudi Ministry of Energy said on Friday that the pipeline was shut as a “precautionary measure” following attacks a day earlier in the Riyadh and Medina regions. The incidents caused injuries, while authorities began assessing the damage. Riyadh did not identify who carried out the attacks or announce when operations would resume.

Saudi Arabia loses crucial Hormuz bypass

The disruption assumes particular significance because the East-West pipeline, also known as Petroline, has become one of Saudi Arabia’s most important pieces of energy infrastructure during the Iran-US-Israel conflict.

Running roughly 1,200 km across the Arabian Peninsula, the network carries crude from Saudi Arabia’s oil-producing eastern region to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. It was built during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s precisely to provide the kingdom with an alternative export route if tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted.

Its importance has increased dramatically during the current West Asian conflict as shipping through Hormuz has fallen sharply. The pipeline had been restored earlier this year to a pumping capacity of around seven million barrels per day after suffering damage in previous attacks.

Crude and condensate loadings from Yanbu had risen sharply again in early September, underscoring the Red Sea port’s role in keeping Saudi exports moving while traffic through Hormuz remained severely constrained.

The latest attack therefore threatens more than an individual pipeline. It strikes at the infrastructure Saudi Arabia has relied upon to circumvent one of the world's most vulnerable maritime chokepoints.

Houthis tighten grip near Bab el-Mandeb

At the same time, Saudi Arabia is facing growing danger at the western end of that alternative export system.

Iran-backed Houthi forces have made major territorial gains along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including capturing the strategic port of Mocha and expanding their presence around islands and territory close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The rebels have also seized Mayun, or Perim Island, located directly in the Bab el-Mandeb, substantially increasing concerns over their ability to threaten maritime traffic through the narrow waterway.

Bab el-Mandeb connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea and is a critical passage for vessels travelling between Asia, the Middle East and Europe through the Suez Canal.

The Houthis have declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, although they have maintained that other international shipping would not be targeted.

Saudi oil squeezed between two chokepoints

The combination presents an increasingly difficult energy-security challenge for Riyadh. Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz had made the East-West pipeline and Yanbu essential alternatives for moving Saudi crude to international markets.

Oil arriving at Yanbu, however, must eventually pass through the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb to reach many customers, particularly Asian markets. Houthi advances therefore threaten the maritime outlet of the same system designed to protect Saudi exports from disruption in Hormuz.

Shipping through Hormuz has already fallen dramatically. Preliminary tracking data showed only seven vessels transited the strait on Wednesday, compared with a 10-day average of 14, highlighting the severity of the disruption.

Until the latest escalation, Yanbu had been absorbing some of the pressure. Estimates showed crude and condensate loadings there rising to as much as 3.7 million barrels per day in early September.

Oil market faces fresh supply risk

The pipeline shutdown adds another source of uncertainty for an oil market already confronting supply disruptions and escalating geopolitical tensions across West Asia.

Brent crude has moved above $100 a barrel amid the conflict, while attacks on Saudi infrastructure and uncertainty surrounding both Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb have increased concerns about the security of physical oil flows.

Saudi energy infrastructure has repeatedly come under attack during the regional conflict. Earlier this week, Houthi missile and drone strikes targeted oil and economic facilities in southern Saudi Arabia, including sites around Jazan, Abha, Najran and Khamis Mushait.

The East-West pipeline itself has previously been attacked, including during the present conflict, before Saudi Arabia restored its full pumping capacity to about seven million barrels per day in April.

The latest shutdown, however, comes at a particularly sensitive moment. With traffic through Hormuz sharply restricted and the security environment around Bab el-Mandeb deteriorating, Saudi Arabia is confronting simultaneous threats to both its principal Gulf export route and the Red Sea alternative built to bypass it.