Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline Restart Drives Oil Price Decline

Saudi Arabia has restarted operations at its East-West Pipeline after a drone attack forced the kingdom to shut it down on September 11. The pipeline, which has a capacity of 7 million barrels per day, was pumping at a low rate following the restart.

The resumption of supplies is expected to drive selling on global oil markets, with Brent crude falling by more than $2 a barrel towards $97. This is its lowest price since September 8.

State oil firm Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but sources say the pipeline will resume crude supply to Aramco refineries located on the Red Sea coast.