Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy temporarily shut the East-West oil pipeline as a precautionary measure after multiple Thursday attacks in the Riyadh and Medina regions, state media citing a ministry source told Reuters. Arab News carried the same ministry language. Several people were injured and received medical treatment. Emergency teams were deployed to secure the Hormuz-bypass artery and assess safety. No restart timeline has been confirmed.
The foreign ministry said drones were launched from Iraq and that the kingdom is holding off retaliation for now after a request from Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi. Attacker identity remains unclear. Reuters, citing ship-tracking firms and analysts, put recent flows at 4 to 5 million barrels per day, about 4 to 5 percent of global supply. The National puts full pumping capacity near 7 million barrels per day; nameplate is not recent throughput. The roughly 1,200-kilometer line links Eastern Province output to Yanbu on the Red Sea.
Sources: Reuters energy (temporary shut; ministry via state media; 4-5 mb/d flows); Reuters MFA follow (drones from Iraq; hold-off; unclear attacker); Arab News (ministry precaution language; Iraqi PM); Bloomberg (precautionary shut snippet); The National (full pumping capacity near 7 mb/d).
