Saudi Aramco confirmed on Friday that a crude pipeline connecting the eastern oil-rich fields with the Red Sea port of Yanbu on the west coast was fully operational, after armed drone attacks forced a temporary shutdown.
"The East West Pipeline is fully operational," the company said in an emailed statement to The National.
Saudi Aramco, which produces and sells oil on behalf of the Saudi state had to temporarily shutdown the pipeline, which has the capacity to transport up to 5 million barrels per day of oil following armed drone attacks along two associated pumping stations.
Saudi energy minister Khalid Al Falih said the attacks were acts of terrorism against global oil supply but said the company’s supplies had not been impacted as a result of the incident.
Riyadh later said that seven explosive drones operated by Yemen’s Houthi rebels were to blame for the attacks on the pumping stations in the cities of Dawadmi and Afif.
The attacks came only a day after four tankers, including two belonging to Saudi Aramco, suffered significant damage off the coast of the UAE emirate of Fujairah in “sabotage” attacks.
The incidents spiked fears of a threat to spare capacity in the Middle East and ended three weeks of bearishness in the oil markets, with Brent rising by a dollar to reach $71.13 per barrel on Tuesday.
