Saudi Arabia closes key oil pipeline after drone attack
Riyadh says the East-West pipeline was shut as a precaution while damage, injuries and potential export impacts were assessed.
Saudi Arabia has temporarily closed its 1,200-kilometre East-West oil pipeline after a drone attack, placing a key export route under strain as conflict disrupts shipping around the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the closure was precautionary and that injuries and damage were being assessed. Satellite imagery showed black smoke rising near the pipeline south of Medina, while the effect on oil exports was not immediately detailed.
Saudi and Iraqi authorities said the drones originated in Iraq. Baghdad dismissed a military commander in response and opened an investigation, but the reported launch location had not been independently established. No group had claimed responsibility for the attack.
The pipeline has reportedly carried between four million and five million barrels of oil a day, equivalent to about 4 to 5 per cent of global supply. It has been the main alternative route for Middle Eastern oil exports while the Strait of Hormuz has been largely closed by war.
Saudi Civil Defence separately said a projectile fired by the Houthis injured two people and damaged buildings, including a mosque, in the Jazan region. Four Yemeni government sources also said the Houthis had seized Perim island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a claim not independently corroborated in the material reviewed by France 24.
