Saudi Pipeline Closure Fuels Global Energy Crisis

Saudi Arabia's closure of its East-West pipeline after a recent drone attack has raised concerns about global energy markets, already strained by the war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The 1,200-kilometer pipeline is crucial for transporting oil from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, where it can be loaded onto tankers heading to Europe or Asia.

Rystad Energy estimates that an average of 2.6 million to 4 million barrels of oil a day moved through the pipeline and out of the Red Sea port of Yanbu since late August, about 4% of the global oil supply.

The closure comes as the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for a fifth of global oil shipments, is still recovering from the war, with only 90 tankers passing through in the first week of September, down from 130 before the conflict.