Saudis Rush to Restore Pipeline

Saudi Arabia is racing the clock to get a key oil pipeline back online—or risk knocking out roughly 4% of global supply. Drone strikes shut the East-West line to the Red Sea on Friday, and industry sources tell Reuters that storage at the port of Yanbu could cover exports for only five to seven days. Smaller reserves in Egypt could stretch deliveries, but not for long. Riyadh has not detailed the damage or timeline, with estimates ranging from under a week to more than a month for repairs.

The outage piles onto an existing squeeze: Saudi output is already at its lowest in over 30 years, global oil supply is shrinking, and fuel prices and inflation have been surging worldwide. Also adding pressure on oil supplies and prices—and potentially boosting Iran in its battle with the US—is the fighting in Yemen, which intensified on Sunday. Houthi forces are pressing attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure and its shipping in the Red Sea, per the AP.