Confirmed Strike on Saudi Aramco's East-West Pipeline Damages Key Hormuz Bypass

Two US officials reported that projectiles hit a major Saudi oil pipeline network on Thursday (CNN).

Initial assessments indicate that the attack targeted the pumping stations situated alongside the pipeline.

The identity of those behind the attack has not yet been established. One official indicated that the drones involved had been launched from Iraq. Iran-allied militia groups in Iraq have used drones in the past to attack Saudi Arabia.

Sources added that it was still too early to estimate how long repairs might take.

Imagery from the European Sentinel-3 satellite showed a thick black smoke plume extending close to 100 kilometers across the desert, along the stretch of the pipeline corridor that runs toward Mahd adh-Dhahab. NASA's FIRMS fire monitoring system also detected a cluster of thermal anomalies in the same area.

The stakes are high because the pipeline, also known as Petroline, has become the backbone of Saudi oil exports in 2026. The line runs roughly 1,200 kilometers from the Abqaiq processing hub in the Eastern Province to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. After the US-Israeli war with Iran began in late February and Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, Aramco pushed the pipeline to its full capacity of about 7 million barrels per day in March. Around 2 million barrels per day feed refineries on the west coast, which leaves about 5 million barrels per day that can be exported in theory. In practice, terminal capacity limits shipments, and crude and condensate loadings at Yanbu had recovered to about 3.7 million barrels per day in early September, according to tanker tracking firm Vortexa.

This is not the first time the pipeline has been hit this year. On April 9, the Saudi Press Agency reported that an attack on a pumping station had reduced throughput by about 700,000 barrels per day, as part of a wave of strikes that also damaged the Manifa and Khurais oil fields and several refineries. The energy ministry did not name the attacker, although the kingdom had been intercepting large numbers of Iranian missiles and drones at the time. On April 12, the ministry announced that the pipeline had returned to its full pumping capacity. In May 2019, Houthi drones had already struck two pumping stations on the line, forcing Aramco to shut it down temporarily.

The latest reports come after weeks of escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. Fighting in Yemen resumed in July after the Houthis allowed an Iranian aircraft to land in Sanaa in defiance of Saudi control over Yemeni airspace, prompting Saudi strikes on the airport. The group then declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia and, on July 23, claimed missile and drone attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. Houthi forces also targeted the Aramco refinery in Jazan, which processes about 400,000 barrels per day, as well as Yanbu in July, before striking Jazan again in August.

On September 8, the Houthis launched their largest operation against the kingdom in years, firing dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at Aramco facilities in Abha, Najran and Jazan and at the Khamis Mushait air base. The Saudi Ministry of Energy said the strikes caused fires at several sites and a temporary halt to some operations, while the Saudi-led coalition reported 73 people wounded. The Houthis presented the attack as a response to 121 Saudi air strikes carried out over three days in several Yemeni provinces. Saudi Arabia has since hit back with new strikes in Yemen, and according to an AFP tally, the fighting has left more than 500 people dead, mostly combatants, in about a week.

On September 10, the same day the smoke plume was spotted, Houthi forces captured the Red Sea port city of Mokha, which had been held by Yemen's internationally recognized government and had been under missile fire since early August. Mokha lies roughly 80 kilometers from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. According to Yemeni government military sources, the Houthis are now attacking the Hanish islands, while government forces are falling back toward Dhubab, a town located directly on the strait. Shipping through Bab el-Mandeb had already dropped by about 60% because of earlier Houthi attacks.

Oil markets reacted sharply to the Mokha takeover and the pipeline reports. Brent crude settled more than 6% higher on September 10 and approached $110 per barrel in early trading on September 11, before easing to around $108. The Murban benchmark from Abu Dhabi climbed to about $122. RBC Capital Markets warned that Brent could top $120 by the end of the year if the fighting continues, and in the United States, AAA reported average gasoline prices of $4.28 per gallon, up 34% from a year earlier. Diplomatic efforts are underway, with Pakistan delivering a Saudi warning to Iran to restrain its Yemeni allies.

The key question for the coming days is how long any repairs would take. If the incident turns out to be similar to the April strike on a pumping station, exports could lose several hundred thousand barrels per day for a few days. A confirmed rupture of the main line would be more serious, as it would reduce flows to Yanbu at the very moment when the Red Sea exit is also threatened. Traders are now watching Yanbu loading data, new satellite passes and any statement from Riyadh to measure the real impact on global supply.