Despite the ceasefire agreement reached on Wednesday between the United States and Iran, Israeli bombings in Lebanon have continued and Iranian attacks on Persian Gulf countries have not ceased either. The Financial Times was the first to report a drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, a highly significant pipeline because it allows the country to export its oil without having to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which remains blocked.
THE VALUE OF THE EAST-WEST PIPELINE FOR SAUDI ARABIA
Since the war with Iran began more than forty days ago, the East-West pipeline has proven essential for Saudi Arabia’s oil industry, on which the public budget depends. The pipeline was built in the 1980s and is 1200 kilometers long: it connects the city of Jubail, on the Persian Gulf, to Yanbu, on the Red Sea. From Yanbu, oil shipments can reach the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal, or the Arabian Sea – and thus the Indian Ocean – passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, between Yemen and the Horn of Africa.
The East-West pipeline thus offers Saudi Arabia an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for hydrocarbon producers in the Persian Gulf because it connects the latter to the Gulf of Oman, ensuring access to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
WEDNESDAY’S ATTACK ON SAUDI ARABIA
On Wednesday, a pumping station of the East-West pipeline was hit by a drone. Saudi Aramco, the Saudi state oil company managing the entire infrastructure, did not comment, but sources from the Financial Times said that operations along the pipeline may not have been compromised thanks to the presence of reserve stations.
OIL FLOWS ALONG THE EAST-WEST PIPELINE
In recent weeks, Saudi Arabia has exported about 4.9 million barrels of oil per day from Yanbu via the East-West pipeline, which however has a much higher transport capacity of 7 million barrels. Saudi Arabia is considering increasing its capacity, or even building new similar pipelines: development costs, however, would likely be very high, around 5 billion dollars, due to the difficulties of excavation in the basalt deposits of the Hejaz mountains, near the Saudi coast of the Red Sea.
Although the East-West pipeline allows Riyadh to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, passage through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is not completely safe either: in Yemen there are the Houthis, an armed group affiliated with Iran which, moreover, attacked several pumping stations in 2019.
THE EMIRATES AND KUWAIT HAVE ALSO BEEN TARGETED
The East-West pipeline was not the only energy infrastructure to suffer an Iranian attack on Wednesday. Kuwait, in fact, has reported “significant damage” to several oil and desalination plants. The United Arab Emirates have announced they have been targeted by 17 missiles and 35 drones since the ceasefire came into effect; Qatar and Bahrain have also said they intercepted several Iranian missiles and drones.
THE EMIRATI ALTERNATIVE TO THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ
The United Arab Emirates can also bypass the Strait of Hormuz thanks to the Fujairah pipeline. Although 3600 kilometers long, it has a limited capacity (1.5 million barrels per day); this pipeline connects the city of Habshan to Fujairah, which is located on the Gulf of Oman, just beyond Hormuz. It seems that Abu Dhabi intends to build a twin pipeline, but has not yet made a final decision.
