Saudis Shut Down Crucial Pipeline After Drone Attack From Iraq

A drone attack launched from Iraqi territory led Saudi Arabia to shut down a critical oil pipeline on Friday, heightening fears that widening clashes in the region could further disrupt energy supplies. The global price of oil briefly jumped to about $110 a barrel.

The Saudi Arabian Energy Ministry said that the shutdown of the East-West pipeline, an increasingly vital means to shuttle oil from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, was a precautionary measure. The country’s foreign ministry said it would not immediately retaliate at the request of the Iraqi government, which said it would work to find the source of the attack.

Concerns over disruptions to oil supplies set off by the U.S. war against Iran broadened this week with reports that the Houthi militia had seized a strategic Red Sea island and a port city, which could further choke shipping in the area. A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry told Iranian media outlets on Friday that Persian Gulf states planned to meet with Iran on Monday in Oman to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

The price of Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, surged early Friday before easing to about $105 a barrel in afternoon trading. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. standard, traded as high as $104 a barrel before falling to about $100.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/business/diesel-fuel-prices-oil-iran-war.html