(April 8): A key Saudi oil pipeline to the Red Sea suffered only limited damage from an earlier drone strike on one of its pumping stations, according to people familiar with the matter.
The damage from the strike on Wednesday afternoon was limited and contained, the people said. One of the people said that the pipeline was not shut down as a result of the strike.
Saudi Aramco earlier declined to comment on the strike.
The east-west pipeline has served as a vital lifeline for getting oil from Saudi Arabia’s fields along the Persian Gulf to the port of Yanbu on the western Red Sea coast, effectively bypassing the largely closed Strait of Hormuz. The kingdom has cranked up flows through the link to full capacity, allowing close to five million barrels a day to be exported, or about 70% of total prewar levels.
A shipping agent and trader both said that loadings continued at the port of Yanbu without any interruption on Wednesday.
Uploaded by Arion Yeow
