Saudi Pipeline Outage and Fresh Attacks Send Oil Prices Soaring

Oil prices rose on September 15, 2026, as concerns over supply disruptions persisted after attacks on Saudi Arabian energy infrastructure left the kingdom's East-West pipeline offline.

The Brent crude futures price increased by $1.37, or 1.3%, to $107.05 a barrel at 0406 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up $1.53, or 1.51%, at $102.92 a barrel.

The recent attacks on Saudi Arabia, blamed by Riyadh on Iranian-backed fighters in Iraq, disrupted the country's East-West pipeline, which allows oil exports to bypass the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

Commodity vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz dropped to fewer than 10 transits a day over the weekend, from a 10-day average of 14, raising concerns over a route that typically carried about one-fifth of global oil supplies before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began.