Saudi Oil Pipeline Repairs Could Take Weeks After Drone Attack

The recent drone attacks on Saudi Arabia's crucial East-West oil pipeline have resulted in damage that may require weeks to repair, thus potentially reducing the flow of crude oil exports from the Middle East significantly. Saudi Arabia was compelled to temporarily halt the pipeline following the drone strikes, which occurred close to the Iranian border in Iraq on Thursday.

The attacks caused injuries and inflicted harm on the pipeline, including a major pumping station along the route, as evidenced by satellite images released by Vantor and published by Getty Images. According to two regional officials familiar with the matter, the repairs could take between three to five weeks. While the pipeline may function partially during the repairs, it remains unclear how much crude oil could be transported through a partially-operational pipeline.

The 750-mile-long East-West pipeline has been Saudi Arabia's essential oil pathway to circumvent the Strait of Hormuz since the Middle East conflict started and Hormuz was closed to shipping traffic. This has enabled the Kingdom to reroute most of its crude shipments from western Persian Gulf ports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Despite announcing the pipeline shutdown and expressing condemnation of the attacks, Saudi Arabia has not officially disclosed the extent of the damage or the repair timelines to the market.

Consequently, Asian refiners remain uncertain about the impact of the pipeline shutdown on oil loadings at the Yanbu port. Four Asian refiners have not yet received any clarification from Saudi Arabia, and two of them plan to pick up their cargoes at Yanbu as scheduled unless any delays are communicated in the coming hours and days.