The shutdown of Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline marked a critical turning point in the widening Middle East conflict's impact on global energy flows. The 1,200-kilometer pipeline, built in the 1980s, had served for months as the kingdom's primary escape route for crude exports while the Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed by the US-Iran war. It was moving 4 to 5 million barrels per day—roughly 4% to 5% of global supply—when drone attacks struck pump stations in the Riyadh and Madinah regions in early September . Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry confirmed the pipeline was shut "as a precautionary measure," and regional officials later told the Associated Press that repairs could take three to five weeks, with the line mostly out of service during that period .
The attacks on the pipeline originated from Iraq, according to both Baghdad and Riyadh, where Iranian-backed militias operate. Iraq dismissed a military commander in response, and Saudi Arabia opted against immediate retaliation at the Iraqi prime minister's request, though it reserved the right to take necessary measures . US President Donald Trump said Iran was probably to blame. No group immediately claimed responsibility . Satellite imagery showed black smoke rising from an area south of Medina, and the attack caused injuries and damage that was still being assessed .
Simultaneously, Houthi forces in Yemen executed a rapid advance along the Red Sea coast, capturing the port city of Mokha and then seizing Perim Island—also called Mayun—in the middle of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea . Within days, the Houthis also took the Greater and Lesser Hanish islands, positioning them roughly 100 miles north of Bab el-Mandeb and just 20 miles from the US military base in Djibouti . A Houthi spokesman said the strait would remain open to all shipping except Saudi vessels, which had already been blockaded since July . The advances gave the Houthis control over Yemen's entire Red Sea coastline and, by extension, the ability to threaten or interdict shipping passing through one of the world's most critical maritime corridors.
The strategic logic of the dual squeeze was stark: Saudi Arabia had relied on the East-West pipeline precisely because Hormuz was contested. With the pipeline shut and the Red Sea outlet now running past Houthi-controlled shores, the kingdom faced an energy export crisis with no clear alternative. Oil prices broke $100 per barrel for the first time in months, closing more than 8% higher in the week of the pipeline attack . Saudi crude output had already fallen to 6.238 million barrels per day in August—its lowest since 1990—and the pipeline closure threatened to push exports even lower .
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman phoned Trump to request US military help against the Houthis, according to sources cited by Reuters. Washington indicated it would not intervene directly for now but would provide intelligence support . The Houthis, meanwhile, reportedly called the Trump administration asking Washington not to become directly involved—a remarkable indicator of the group's confidence after its territorial gains . The US later ordered non-emergency government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, citing security risks from Houthi attacks on civilian airports and critical infrastructure .
By late October, the situation had escalated further rather than stabilising. Houthi forces claimed attacks on several Saudi energy facilities, including the Ras Tanura refinery, the Rabigh refinery, and a production facility at Abqaiq owned by Saudi Aramco . An October 10 attack on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, according to Reuters, and aviation analytics firm Cirium reported that 86% of scheduled flights at Riyadh's airport were cancelled between October 8 and October 25 . Saudi Aramco's administrative building in Dhahran was struck, causing a limited fire, and the Saudi-led coalition intercepted multiple missiles and drones over eastern and southern regions . The Houthis warned civilians and international shipping companies to stay away from sites they consider legitimate targets .
The Red Sea shipping crisis had by then merged with the Hormuz crisis into a single, interconnected threat to global maritime trade. In Hormuz, Iran's Revolutionary Guards reported multiple tankers struck by mines or projectiles, including limpet mine attacks, while UKMTO confirmed a crude oil tanker hit by an unknown projectile south of Lavan Island . The combined effect on shipping was severe: operators avoiding both the Red Sea and Hormuz faced the far longer and costlier Cape of Good Hope route to Europe, while insurers priced in escalating war-risk premiums across the region.
For Saudi Arabia, the pipeline shutdown represented a strategic vulnerability laid bare. The kingdom had invested in the East-West line specifically to reduce dependence on Hormuz, but the Houthi advance demonstrated that the alternative outlet could be threatened just as effectively. Repairs to the pipeline would restore some capacity, but the broader security environment—with Houthi forces entrenched along the Red Sea coast and Iran continuing to pressure Hormuz—meant that neither export route could be considered reliably safe. Oil markets reflected that uncertainty, with Brent crude hovering near five-month highs above $109 per barrel by late October as traders weighed the prospect of sustained supply disruption against diplomatic efforts that had yet to produce a breakthrough .