Drone Strikes Hit Saudi Arabia’s Vital East-West Oil Pipeline
Drone Strikes Hit Saudi Arabia’s Vital East-West Oil Pipeline Tom majored in International Business at Amsterdam’s Higher School of Economics and later completed an Executive MBA in Energy Transition at the University of Groningen.… Saudi Arabia’s critical East-West oil pipeline system was struck on Thursday, with multiple pumping stations hit in an attack that could threaten one of the kingdom’s most important crude export routes,according to CNN, citing two U.S.
The confirmation comes after satellite data on Thursday pointed to unusual activity along the pipeline corridor.
OilPrice.com reported that NASA FIRMS had detected multiple large fires near the East-West pipeline, while Sentinel-3 imageryappeared to showa massive plume of black smoke stretching across western Saudi Arabia.
The East-West pipeline is Saudi Arabia’s critical bypass around the Strait of Hormuz.https://t.co/km3QMx0YRw CNN now reports that an initial U.S.
assessment found that pumping stations located alongside the pipeline were struck by projectiles.
Satellite imagery obtained by CNN appears to show extensive fire damage at a pumping station near Al Mesba'ah, while another image from Thursday showed a fire and thick black smoke at a pumping station near Al Dhekra.
official said the attack involved drones originating from Iraq, although responsibility for the strikes has not yet been established.
Saudi Aramco and the Saudi government have not publicly commented on the incident.
It also remains unclear whether the East-West pipeline itself was damaged or how long repairs to the affected pumping infrastructure could take.
The distinction could prove critical for oil markets.
Pumping stations can potentially be repaired considerably faster than a ruptured trunk pipeline.
The East-West pipeline has become one of the most strategically important pieces of oil infrastructure in the world since the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
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