Oil prices rise as Saudi pipeline outage, fresh attacks raise supply concerns - Reuters

Brent rises above $107 as attacks, pipeline outage deepen Saudi supply concerns | Reuters

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Brent rises above $107 as attacks, pipeline outage deepen Saudi supply concerns

By

Anushree Ashish Mukherjee

September 14, 2026

5:36 PM PDT

Updated 1 hour ago

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!Satellite image shows damage to the East-West pipeline facility in the Hejaz Region

Satellite image shows damage to the East-West pipeline facility in the Hejaz Region, Saudi Arabia, on September 11, 2026. 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Purchase LicensingRights , opens new tab

* Summary

* Houthis strike Saudi targets as talks over Hormuz stall
* Commodity vessel traffic through Hormuz drops to 4 on Monday
* Half of Russia's top diesel-producing refineries cut back output after drone strikes

Sept 15 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than ​1% on Tuesday after attacks on Saudi Arabian energy infrastructure left the kingdom's East-West pipeline offline, raising fears that ‌damage to energy infrastructure and transport routes could take longer to repair.

Brent crude futures rose $1.67, or 1.58%, to $107.35 a barrel at 1002 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up $2.14, or 2.11%, at $103.53 a barrel.

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Concerns over oil supplies intensified after Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen launched fresh attacks on ​Saudi Arabia on Monday, while Gulf Arab states postponed planned discussions with Iran.

"Fresh attacks by the Houthis targeting Saudi ​Arabia may be influencing oil market investors’ expectations about the severity and duration of the conflict," ⁠said Hamad Hussain, senior climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics.

The Houthis on Monday said they fired dozens of missiles and ​drones at a military air base in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia, targeting aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots ​in retaliation for Saudi airstrikes in Yemen.

This followed attacks on Friday on Saudi Arabia, which Riyadh blamed on Iranian-backed fighters in Iraq, that disrupted the country's East-West pipeline, which allows oil exports to bypass the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global oil supplies previously ​passed.

Saudi Arabia could exhaust crude available for export within days unless the East-West pipeline resumes operations, according to buyers and traders. The ​pipeline strike threatened up to 4% of global oil supply.

"The recent attack may be more severe and could threaten the remaining 2mb/d of recent ‌Yanbu ⁠exports, with the latest repair assessments ranging from 'very soon' to eight weeks," Goldman Sachs said in a note.

The attacks on oil infrastructure marked a meaningful escalation of the conflict and increased the probability of Brent rising above $120 a barrel, Goldman Sachs said, citing a scenario in which average Gulf oil output in 2027 remains 4 million barrels per day below pre-war levels.

Commodity vessel traffic through the ​Strait of Hormuz dropped to ​four on Monday, down from ⁠10 a day earlier, preliminary data from Kpler showed on Tuesday, raising concerns about a route that carried about a fifth of global oil supplies before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran kicked ​off on February 28.

Oman's Maritime Security Centre said on Tuesday that the Panama-flagged oil tanker 'El Gaia' ​was being towed ⁠to an Omani port after a fire broke out in its engine room following an attack.

"In the absence of an adjustment in demand or greater oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, several weeks of the East-West pipeline being closed could lift Brent crude prices ⁠towards $130 per ​barrel," Hussain said.

Separately, half of Russia's six top diesel-producing refineries were forced to significantly ​cut back or completely halt output in September due to damage sustained in drone attacks, according to Reuters calculations based on data from fuel market participants.

Reporting ​by Colleen Howe in Beijing and Anushree Mukherjee and Pranav Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Thomas Derpinghaus and Louise Heavens

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Anushree Ashish Mukherjee

Thomson Reuters

Anushree Mukherjee is a commodities and energy reporter based in Bangalore, India, covering oil, gas, power, metals and agriculture. Her stories explore the hidden linkages between commodities, geopolitics and industry, tracking how supply-demand shifts in one market ripple across others.

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