Saudi Arabia’s East‑West pipeline, which moves about four million barrels of crude per day to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, was shut down after a drone attack on Friday, according to Bloomberg. The government has not disclosed the extent of damage or expected repair time.
Insiders told Bloomberg that storage at Red Sea ports holds only five to seven days of supply, and a prolonged outage could remove as much as four percent of global oil output, tightening a market already experiencing record fuel prices and rising inflation.
One source familiar with the matter said repairs might take five to six weeks, while another indicated the line could return to partial service sooner. If the pipeline remains offline, Saudi Arabia’s export capacity would be curtailed, exacerbating the existing supply shortage.
