Overview
- Mid-September drone and militia strikes damaged pumping stations on Saudi Arabia’s East–West pipeline, prompting an immediate shutdown and emergency bypass work.
- Saudi Aramco has shifted to spot sales, ship‑to‑ship transfers and Persian Gulf loadings while telling some European refiners they will receive no October allocations.
- The outage has lifted Brent and WTI back at or above $100 per barrel and sent European spot premiums and diesel prices to multi‑year highs, stressing refining margins.
- Aramco says it aims to restore roughly half pipeline capacity within days and full repairs in several weeks, but rising insurance costs and the risk of new attacks keep timelines uncertain.
- Lower visible inventories, tighter possible US limits on Russian crude and thin regional buffers mean India and Europe face growing supply choices and higher costs in the coming months.