Oil Tops $108 After Drone Strikes Shut Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline

Today’s Focus

Oil climbed past $108 a barrel on Sunday after drone attacks knocked out Saudi Arabia’s east-west crude pipeline, according to The Guardian. Saudi traders warned the kingdom would exhaust its exportable stocks within days if the line stayed closed.

The 745-mile pipeline moves crude from the eastern oil fields to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Riyadh had leaned on it heavily since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, using it to reroute roughly 4 million barrels a day, about 4% of global supply, around the closed Strait of Hormuz.

Iraq’s government confirmed the strikes came from its territory and opened an investigation, The Guardian reported. Baghdad faces growing pressure to stop militant groups, including factions backed by Iran, from launching cross-border attacks on Gulf states from Iraqi soil.

President Donald Trump said he believed Tehran was behind the attack. Iran has not claimed responsibility.

The pipeline shutdown coincided with a fresh wave of assaults by the Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen. On Sunday, the Houthis seized the strategic island of Perim in the Bab al-Mandab strait, tightening their hold over the waterway, according to AP News.

With the pipeline down, Yanbu holds enough stock to sustain exports for only five to seven days, The Guardian reported. AP News reported the line could stay mostly out of service for several weeks while crews carry out repairs.

The Debate

Supporters argue

Backers of a firm Western response frame the strikes as proof that Iran-aligned militias, not market speculation, are driving prices. Trump has pointed at Tehran, arguing the attacks trace back to Iranian direction rather than isolated Yemeni action.

Gulf security advocates say Baghdad must be held accountable for allowing armed groups to operate from Iraqi land. They contend that letting attacks originate from Iraqi soil without consequence invites more of them, threatening a supply artery the entire global economy relies on.

Energy hawks argue the episode validates efforts to boost domestic production and diversify supply routes away from a single vulnerable region. They say the pipeline was built precisely to reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, and its loss shows why redundancy and deterrence matter.

Supporters of tougher Gulf coordination also point to the Houthi capture of Perim as evidence that the group’s expansion must be checked before it can throttle a chokepoint that carries a large share of seaborne trade.

Critics argue

Critics warn that blaming Tehran without public evidence risks widening a war that has already disrupted Middle East energy for months. They argue escalation is exactly what raises prices for ordinary drivers and households, not stabilizes them.

Some analysts and opposition voices contend that years of confrontation, including the US-Israel campaign against Iran, helped create the conditions now squeezing supply. They say more military pressure has coincided with higher, not lower, energy costs this year.

Humanitarian and anti-war groups note that intensified fighting in Yemen and the Houthi advance along the Bab al-Mandab flow from an unresolved conflict that force alone has failed to end. They argue diplomacy, including talks on the Strait of Hormuz, offers a faster path to calming markets than further strikes.

Critics also fault the reliance on a single pipeline as a strategic gamble, saying it left global supply exposed to exactly the kind of attack that has now materialized.

What the experts say

Independent energy analysts say the price move reflects a real supply shock, not just sentiment. Roughly 4 million barrels a day, about 4% of global supply, had been flowing through the pipeline, according to The Guardian, so a prolonged outage removes a meaningful volume from the market.

The five-to-seven-day export cushion at Yanbu cited by Saudi traders is the near-term pressure point. AP News reported repairs could take several weeks, meaning the gap between available stock and repair time is what markets are pricing.

Historically, disruptions to Gulf infrastructure have produced sharp but often temporary spikes. The 2019 attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq facility briefly removed a large share of the kingdom’s output and caused one of the steepest single-day price jumps on record before production recovered.

Analysts cited by CBS News noted that postponed Oman-Iran talks on the Strait of Hormuz added to the uncertainty, helping push crude toward a near four-month high.

By the Numbers

$108: price per barrel oil surpassed after the pipeline shutdown, according to The Guardian.

745 miles: length of Saudi Arabia’s east-west crude pipeline, per The Guardian.

4 million barrels a day: volume Riyadh had rerouted through the pipeline to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, per The Guardian.

4%: share of global oil supply represented by that rerouted volume, according to The Guardian.

5 to 7 days: how long Yanbu’s stocks can sustain exports with the pipeline offline, per The Guardian.

Several weeks: estimated time the pipeline could remain mostly out of service for repairs, according to AP News.

Near 4-month high: level oil prices reached amid the disruption and postponed Oman-Iran talks, according to CBS News.