Photo: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026 / European Union / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia’s East-West crude oil pipeline was targeted on Monday in the Madinah region, causing a limited fire that emergency teams put out, the energy ministry said. The ministry said there were no injuries or deaths and that the pipeline’s operations were not affected. The statement was carried by the Saudi Press Agency at about 11:09 a.m. ET.
A ministry source said emergency and technical teams responded immediately and took steps to secure the site and check its safety. The ministry did not say who was responsible or how the pipeline was targeted, and no one has been named. The pipeline carries Saudi crude across the kingdom to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, a route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz.
Context: the line was the target of an earlier attack in September that forced Saudi Arabia to shut it on Sept. 11, and operations resumed on Sept. 22, according to reports. An analysis at the time looked at who was behind that attack. Saudi Arabia has leaned on the route to export oil during the U.S.-Iran war, as shipping through the Gulf has been disrupted.
Why it matters: the pipeline is one of the main ways Saudi crude reaches markets while Hormuz is unsafe, so any attack draws attention from oil traders. Still unknown: who carried out the attack, how it was carried out, and whether further attacks follow.
Archival satellite image: smoke rising from the East-West pipeline in September 2026. It does not show Monday’s fire.
JBizNews Desk | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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