Oil flow stopped in Saudi Arabia; Iraq offers Germany crude oil

After attacks, no oil is currently flowing through Saudi Arabia's important east-west pipeline. It is unclear how long the repairs will take. Information from the USA suggests that things could happen quickly. But not everyone is so optimistic.

According to US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the flow of oil through the important Saudi Arabian east-west pipeline should start again in a few days. The repairs are expected to take a few days, Wright told CNBC on the sidelines of a G20 energy meeting in Houston. Saudi Arabia temporarily closed the pipeline after attacks by Iran-aligned groups.

However, insiders gave different information about the duration of the outage. While one person spoke of a repair time of five to six weeks, another said that the pipeline could partially resume operations during the work. Four to five million barrels per day normally flow through the 1,200 kilometer long pipeline.

During a visit to Berlin, Iraq's Prime Minister Ali al-Saidi announced the prospect of exporting crude oil to Germany and discussed the construction of a pipeline for this purpose. “German companies are welcome here,” said al-Saidi after a meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz. "German companies and other companies can work stably in Iraq."

Iraq has a lot of raw materials and workers. "But he needs the technology and German expertise." The partnership will not be one-sided, al-Saidi said, offering agreements on oil exports. Because of its geographical proximity, Iraq traditionally exports its oil to East Asia. But he wants to diversify. There is a pipeline to Turkey and one to Syria. His country also wants to export oil to France via the Mediterranean.

"Our vision is that we double what we can produce. We want to get to nine to ten million barrels a day." Half of it should go to Europe and the West, said the Iraqi Prime Minister.