Saudi Oil Pipeline Repairs Will Take Up to Five Weeks After Drone Strike

A key Saudi Arabian oil pipeline hit in a drone strike by Iraqi militias will take up to five weeks to repair, AP has reported, citing informed officials.

The East-West Pipeline, which runs 1,200 km across the country towards the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, will remain mostly out of service during the three- to five-week repair period, the agency said in an article on Tuesday.

One official suggested that parts of the infrastructure could function while segments of the pipeline and a major pumping station are being fixed, but couldn’t say how much oil might get through, according to AP.

Oil prices spiked by more than 3% on Monday, with benchmark Brent crude reaching $109 per barrel, following the decision by the Saudi authorities to shut down the pipeline after it was struck by drones in the Riyadh and Medina areas on Thursday.

The Gulf kingdom blamed Iranian-backed militias in Iraq for the attack, with the government in Baghdad confirming that the UAVs came from Iraqi territory and condemning the aggression.

According to some reports, Iraqi fighters targeted the pipeline in solidarity with Yemen’s Houthis, officially known as the Ansarallah movement, who made major gains along Yemeni Red Sea coast last week, pushing back Saudi-supported forces and seizing the ports of Mocha and Dhubab as well as key islands at the entrance to the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping chokepoint.

Saudi Arabia, which is the world’s largest supplier of oil, shifted its exports from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea as the Strait of Hormuz remains shut due to the conflict between the US and Iran.

The Houthis further tightened their grip on the Bab al-Mandeb Strait on Monday, capturing the strategic islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish without a fight, AP reported, citing officials from the group and Saudi-backed forces.

The Yemeni group said on the same day that it had fired dozens of missiles and drones at the King Khalid Air Base in the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait.

The attack “was accurate and caused heavy damage” to aircraft hangars, radars, landing strips, and ammunition depots at the facility, Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said.

The strike was “a response to the escalation of tension by the Saudi regime and the implementation of more than 300 airstrikes in the past five days,” Saree stressed.

Saudi military spokesperson Major General Turki al-Malki said 13 civilians were wounded during the Houthi raid on Khamis Mushait, but didn’t confirm the attack on the airbase.

Riyadh has asked Britain for military support in stemming the Houthi advance in Yemen and repelling strikes on Saudi oil infrastructure, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Last week, US President Donald Trump reportedly declined several requests by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to order airstrikes against the Houthis.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has so far only agreed to send military advisers to Saudi Arabia, the agency said. Burnham is hesitant to provide further assistance due to concerns of it being viewed as him backing Trump’s war on Iran, which is deeply unpopular in Britain, Bloomberg said.