Saudi Oil Pipeline Damaged in Attack, to be Out of Service for Weeks

A crucial Saudi oil pipeline has been severely damaged in an attack last week and will mostly be out of service for several weeks as repairs get underway. The East-West Pipeline, which runs across the kingdom, is key to Saudi Arabia's strategy of shifting its oil exports to the Red Sea to avoid the Persian Gulf's Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian attacks have stifled shipping.

The pipeline can carry up to 7 million barrels of oil a day and was forced offline on Thursday after an attack that Saudi Arabia blamed on drones from Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. According to regional officials, repairing the damage could take three to five weeks, including at a major pumping facility.