Saudi Arabia halts major oil pipeline, adding to Strait of Hormuz energy crisis fears

Saudi Arabia has temporarily closed a critical cross-country oil pipeline following drone strikes launched from neighbouring Iraq, Saudi officials said on Friday. The East-West pipeline carries crude oil from Abqaiq, near the Gulf, to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. An energy ministry official told the SPA news agency that "the pipeline was stopped as a precaution, and the attacks resulted in some injuries".

Saudi Arabia has relied heavily on this pipeline since the start of the Middle East war to bypass Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz. However, satellite images from Copernicus Sentinel Data taken on Thursday showed black smoke billowing near Medina along the route of the pipeline. Condemning the attack, the Saudi foreign ministry denounced "the targeting of the East-West pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions by several drones coming from Iraq, which caused human injuries and damage".

In Baghdad, the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi confirmed that the attack came from inside Iraqi territory. Prime Minister al-Zaidi dismissed the commander in charge of the southern province of Maysan. The Iraqi government condemned "the attacks targeting our brethren in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia originated from a location within the governorate".

Riyadh withholds immediate response amid rising energy costs

Despite the strikes, Riyadh stated that, following a request from Iraq's prime minister, it chose "not to respond at this stage and to support the efforts of the Iraqi government...to prevent attacks launched from Iraq against the Kingdom and neighbouring countries". Saudi Arabia has previously accused Iranian-backed Iraqi militias of targeting its oil infrastructure. However, Saudi officials stressed that the kingdom "reserves the right to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty, its security, its facilities," and its people.

The attack drew strong condemnation across the region. Bahrain, Jordan, and Qatar denounced the strikes, while the Gulf Cooperation Council called the incident "a dangerous escalation and an unacceptable threat to the security of the Kingdom".

The disruption comes as global fuel costs rise rapidly. Oil prices climbed past $100 a barrel this week, while average US diesel prices topped $6 a gallon for the first time on Friday, creating political pressure for US President Donald Trump ahead of midterm elections.

Meanwhile, maritime security near the Red Sea remains tense. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels declared a sea blockade in July against Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government, and have attacked Saudi oil tankers. On Friday, Houthi forces took control of the Yemeni Red Sea coast and islands in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, consolidating control over the main shipping route linking Europe and Asia. Houthi officials announced that navigation through the Bab al-Mandab Strait was "safe" for all vessels except those linked to Saudi Arabia.