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Massive Fires Along Saudi Oil Export Pipeline, Regional Outlet Says

Tyler Durden's Photo
by Tyler Durden
Authored...

Update(1015ET): The news outlet of pro-Iranian factions in Iraq, Sabereen News, has cited new satellite imagery to report "massive fires in the Saudi oil export pipeline."

The outlet posted the following image on its official Telegram channel. Newsquawk, which picked up the Sabereen report, has noted that it remains unclear whether this is a new incident or is damage stemming from the earlier reported Sunday attack on Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline (detailed below):

The same platform reviews:

  • Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline pumping reportedly halted after a new attack, AFP reports citing sources; "There was big damage and the pipeline stopped again"
  • Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline is flowing as normal, Bloomberg reports citing sources
  • Modest upside seen in the energy benchmarks following this.

And more: Yemeni Houthis hit Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura refinery (550k BPD) with missiles, Sabereen reports

Some other open source regional watchers have similarly observed:

Regional escalation moving fast:

Some further (unconfirmed) footage emerging...

*  *  *

"The East-West pipeline was attacked again yesterday," a source working in the kingdom’s energy sector told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Monday. "A pumping station east of Riyadh in Khurais. It wasn’t targeted before. There was big damage and the pipeline stopped again."

However, follow-up reports were quick to note that the some 745-mile pipeline between Saudi Arabia's main oil fields in the east and the Yanbu terminal on the Red Sea are already back to  operating normally and that flows are continuing.

AFP Image

Bloomberg reports Monday, "Oil continues to flow through the East-West link, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information" - while confirming that the conduit was briefly halted over the weekend due to attack.

The East-West pipeline has been targeted several times after renewed Houthi-Saudi fighting over prior weeks, and such attacks could continue given that fighting has only intensified in neighboring Yemen.

The Saudi-backed government there over the weekend announced a "new phase in the battle to restore the state." Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani wrote on X that the Saudi-backed military operation aims to "extend authority … over every inch of Yemen’s land."

"The recovery of land, islands, and strategic positions in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait … directly contributes to safeguarding one of the world's most vital maritime passages and securing international trade and navigation, after the Houthi militia turned it into a tool for extortion and threats," he said of the anti-Houthi fight.

But amid optimistic pro-Riyadh headlines of counter-Houthi progress, the Ansar Allah movement is saying these reports are exagerrated.

Houthi official Hizam al-Assad has been cited in Nour News on Monday as saying that the Saudi coalition' mercenaries are fleeing and that headlines of "victory" do not capture the reality on the ground but something only being floated for inaccurate media reports. Per the regional report:

  • Hizam al-Assad, a member of the political bureau of Yemen's Ansarullah, pointed out that Saudi Arabia's mercenaries continue to spread lies and stated: Their alleged "victories" do not go beyond the media and social networks.
  • This member of the Ansarullah office emphasized: In the real field, Saudi Arabia's mercenaries are constantly fleeing; from "Ras al-Aara" on the coast of the Gulf of Aden to the "Al-Muwasit" area and the location of the traitor Al-Ulaymi in "Ta'iz".

Meanwhile the chief executive of the world’s biggest oil company, Saudi Aramco, offered some negative news on global crude supplies Monday.

He doesn't see the current situation as “normalizing” anytime soon, and so squeeze on crude oil and refined fuels is set to tighten.

"Until Hormuz fully re-opens and confidence returns, the crude reality is that pressure at both ends of the barrel will intensify. ‌Even ​then, replenishing inventories while meeting demand could take up to two years," ⁠Amin Nasser told the Energy Intelligence Forum ⁠in London.

"The system is already straining," he said in what importantly marked his first in-person speech since the launch of the Iran war. According to more from the Aramco chief: "Brent crude prices would have reached up to $200 per barrel if Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline did not exist," he said.

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