No Way Out West
Saudi Arabia has closed an important pipeline, a 1,200km conduit moving 4–5% of global oil supplies as a bypass to the blocked Strait of Hormuz, which channelled 20% of the world’s oil trade.
The Lifeline
The pipeline stretches from Abqaiq to Yanbu and carries 7 million barrels everyday 2 million barrels feed the Saudi refineries and the rest are exported. Before the blockade the pipeline only transported only 800,000 barrels a day, it had cushioned the crises more than the emergency reserves.
Shut “As a Precaution”
The Pumping stations at Riyadh and Madina regions were struck by drones on 10th & 11th September. No group has claimed responsibility. Iraq traced the launch to Maysan province, near Iran’s border, and fired the local commander.
The Saudi Energy Ministry confirmed the shutdown of the pipeline on Friday and at Baghdad’s request, Riyadh is holding off on retaliation for now.
Meanwhile, at the Other End of the Peninsula
“The Houthi rebels” an Iran-backed Yemeni movement that seized Sanaa in 2014 and has fought a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, now have captured Perim, the island dividing Bab el-Mandeb, and the port city of Mocha, followed by an advance on the coastal town of Dhubab, giving them the gateway to the Red Sea linking Europe and Asia.
The Houthis say they will strike all Saudi targets until the blockade against their people is lifted.
Everything would “work out just fine,”
Trump said on September 12, predicting the war would end after the midterms. Inflation holds at 3.4%, gasoline costs about $4.30 a gallon, and 62% dling of living costs.
Republicans who campaigned on cheap fuel face November on the back foot. The administration finds itself in a worse position after gambling that a blockade would force Iran to accept its terms.
The Cushion Runs Out
Brent settled at $104.61 on Friday, and emergency reserves are largely spent. Diesel feeds into freight and heating bills. It is the duration of the outage, not the outage itself, that could trigger massive inflation.
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Edited by Jal Trivedi
