Houthis Appear To Strike Major Saudi Pipeline, Worsening Global Energy Crisis

Satellite images point to a possible fresh assault on the one Saudi oil artery that skirts the world’s most contested waterway.

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An Iranian account, hormuzletter, posted Sentinel-3 imagery on X showing what it described as a smoke plume close to 100 kilometers long tracing the East-West pipeline in the desert between Medina and Mahd adh Dhahab.

NASA FIRMS fire data recorded heat readings above 70 megawatts, more than twice a routine blaze, clustered over a stretch under 10 kilometers and burning for at least eight hours, according to the X account. (RELATED: Saudi Arabia Vows Retaliation After Iran-Backed Houthis Attack Oil Facilities)

Aramco, the Saudi energy ministry and major wire services have not confirmed any hit on the line, according to InvestingLive. The financial outlet reviewed a second round of imagery comparing satellite passes from Sept. 9 and Sept. 10. Oil traders spent Thursday weighing one confirmed maritime attack near Oman against a pipeline claim that remains unproven.

The Iran-aligned Houthi fighters battered Aramco sites with drones and ballistic missiles this week, wounding 73 people. The Saudi energy ministry suspended operations at several facilities while crews fought fires, Quartz reported. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said his forces struck oil and economic targets in Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait.

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The East-West pipeline, also called Petroline, moves crude roughly 1,200 kilometers from the Eastern Province to Yanbu on the Red Sea. That gives Riyadh its only heavy-duty export path around the Strait of Hormuz, which already sits largely blocked, InvestingLive reported.

Brent crude climbed 1.67% to $98.61 a barrel this week as part of a steady march toward triple digits, Quartz reported.

Houthi forces hit Jizan and Yanbu in July and struck Jizan again in August, according to OilPrice.com. Saudi Arabia has routed more crude west toward Yanbu even as refinery output fell. Saudi officials have coordinated with U.S. Central Command on possible retaliation, CNN reported.

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