Saudi Pipeline Outage Sends Oil Prices Soaring Amid Middle East Tensions
Oil prices rose on Tuesday as concerns over supply disruptions persisted after attacks on Saudi Arabian energy infrastructure left the kingdom's East-West pipeline offline and cast doubt on efforts to ease shipping risks in the Gulf.
Brent crude futures rose $1.24, or 1.18%, to $106.93 a barrel at 0026 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up $1.29, or 1.24%, at $102.65 a barrel.
The attacks on Saudi Arabia by Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen raised concerns that the Middle East conflict could widen and disrupt global oil supplies. The Houthis carried out a missile and drone attack on the Khamis Mushait military airbase, hitting aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways, and ammunition depots.
Saudi Arabia used the pipeline to reroute around 4 million barrels per day, around 4% of global supply, to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. If the East-West pipeline remains offline for an extended period, it could remove as much as 4% of global oil supply from the market.