File photo: Aramco
The pipeline that carries most of Saudi Arabia's crude around the Strait of Hormuz was attacked again on Monday, though oil kept flowing.
The East-West pipeline was targeted in the Madinah region, causing a limited fire that emergency teams put out, the Energy Ministry said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency and reported by Reuters. No one was hurt, and pipeline operations were not affected.
The ministry didn't say who carried out the attack or what weapon was used. No group has claimed it.
Why it matters
The roughly 1,200-km line runs from the oil fields of the Eastern Province to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. With shipping through Hormuz disrupted by the regional war, it has become the kingdom's main export lifeline.
Its maximum capacity is about seven million barrels a day. Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said last month it was back up to 5.8 million barrels a day.
Any lasting damage would squeeze one of the few large routes keeping Gulf oil reaching world markets.
Not the first time
Monday's strike is the third on the pipeline this year.
An Iranian attack hit it in April, hours after a ceasefire. In September, drones the kingdom said were launched from Iraq struck the line near Riyadh and Madinah, injuring workers and forcing a precautionary shutdown.
That shutdown lasted days. The pipeline restarted on Sept. 22.
The bigger picture
The attack comes days after debris damaged Aramco's tower in Riyadh's financial district. Attacks are reaching further into the kingdom's economic heart, testing insurers, investors and the safety of the export routes that fund the state budget.
What to watch
Whether Aramco reports any change to Yanbu loadings this week, and whether shipping and insurance costs for Red Sea crude cargoes rise.
