Saudi Pipeline Damage Drives Brent Crude Above $108 After Drone Attacks

The 1,200-kilometer system—also known as Petroline—transports crude oil from Abqaiq on the kingdom’s eastern Gulf coast to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Saudi authorities temporarily closed the roughly 1,200-kilometer infrastructure as a precautionary measure following drone strikes launched from Iraq that injured several people in the Riyadh and Medina regions.

Export Strains and Global Oil Benchmark Surges

For the past six months, the desert pipeline has shielded Saudi Arabia from the export crippling effects of the wartime Strait of Hormuz shutdown. The world’s largest oil exporter has used the route to reroute around 4m barrels per day around the contested waterway. With the pipeline offline, Yanbu holds sufficient stocks to maintain exports for only five to seven days, according to three industry sources familiar with Saudi exports. A fourth source said Saudi Arabia also has stocks to supply customers for several days from Egypt’s ports of Ain Sukhna on the Red Sea and Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean.

Additional reserves kept at Egypt’s ports provide supplies for several more days, but those inventories are not full and will eventually exhaust without the east-west pipeline resuming operations, the four sources said. Saudi oil buyers and traders said that Saudi Arabia will run out of oil stocks for export if it doesn’t restart the drone-damaged major pipeline to the Red Sea within days, leading to the loss of up to 4% of global supply.

Saudi Arabia Shuts East-West Oil Pipeline After Drone Attack From Iraq

Reflecting those mounting concerns, international benchmark Brent crude futures for November expiry climbed 3.3% to $108.02 per barrel on Monday morning, extending a rally that has driven prices up more than 20% over the past month. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for October delivery rose nearly 3% to trade at $102.98 per barrel, marking the first time the contract has surpassed $100 since May. On Sunday, the international oil benchmark, Brent crude, rose more than 3.4% to $108 per barrel, a level not seen since May.

Repair Estimates and Divergent Industry Timelines

Since the drone attacks forced the shutdown of the pipeline, Riyadh has yet to provide full details about the extent of the damage or how long the route will stay offline, and the Saudis blamed the attack on drones launched by militants in Iraq. Sources that spoke to Reuters gave varying estimates, with one saying the damage could take up to six weeks to repair, while another said it could be fixed sooner and could resume pumping partially while repairs are ongoing. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s government media office and energy ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Saudi Arabia Says East-West Pipeline Hit by Drones Launched from Iraq

The supply shock has rapidly bled into refined products. In the United States, diesel prices surged past a record average of $6 a gallon on Friday, September 11, 2026. The broader energy squeeze stems from a seven-month regional conflict kicked off by U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, 2026, after which Donald Trump declared the war would finished in four to six weeks.

Houthi Offensive and Regional Diplomatic Setbacks

While repair crews assess the damage in Saudi Arabia’s interior, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi forces have launched attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia and captured the strategic island of Perim in the Bab al-Mandab strait, expanding their control of the narrow waterway. The Houthis are targeting Saudi oil infrastructure and shipping as part of a recently declared blockade, and recent advances by the Iran-aligned group puts them closer to a major US base in Djibouti.

Houthi Forces Strike Saudi Sharurah Base With Drones and Missiles

Hopes for near-term diplomatic intervention collapsed over the weekend. Oman’s foreign minister, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, posted late Sunday that a regional meeting scheduled for Monday had been postponed in the interests of consensus, as reported. Iranian officials had said they would attend that gathering with Gulf Arab states to present an agreement with Oman on governing shipping routes through the strait of Hormuz. The strait was free to transit before the war, but Iran now requires vessels to obtain permission and is considering a mechanism to impose service fees.