Brent crude jumped more than $3 per barrel after a cascade of attacks rattled the Persian Gulf, hitting Saudi Arabia’s critical pipeline infrastructure and a commercial vessel navigating the Strait of Hormuz. With prices already flirting with the $100 mark heading into September, the oil market’s margin for bad news was effectively zero.
What happened
The most consequential strike landed on September 11-12, when drones believed to have been launched by Iran-backed militias operating from Iraqi territory targeted Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline. Riyadh responded by suspending pipeline operations as a precautionary measure, cutting off a conduit capable of moving roughly 7 million barrels per day at full capacity.
In practice, the pipeline had been transporting around 4 to 5 million barrels daily before the shutdown.
Then on September 13, a projectile struck a vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz, sparking fires onboard and forcing the crew to evacuate.
