Houthis Say They Struck Saudi Pipeline That Carries Oil Around the Strait of Hormuz

The Iran-aligned group also said it targeted an Aramco building in Riyadh, according to reports of its statement. It did not say on which day the attacks took place. The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis said it had intercepted and destroyed two drones, one over the Riyadh region and one over the Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the pipeline claim, Reuters said, and there was no official account of any damage.

The target matters to oil markets well beyond the Gulf. Saudi Arabia has rerouted about 4 million barrels a day of crude through the East-West pipeline to Yanbu since the war with Iran shut down tanker traffic through Hormuz, according to Reuters. That is roughly 4% of global supply. The line has shielded the world's largest oil exporter from the worst of the disruption, while neighbouring producers that depend on the strait have seen their exports hit hard.

A successful strike on a pumping station could reduce the volume the pipeline can move, and attacks on Yanbu would threaten the port where the rerouted crude is loaded. Earlier this week Saudi Arabia said an attack on the pipeline had started a fire but had not affected operations.

The claims are the latest in a series of Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, ports and oil installations. The group has turned the kingdom into a pressure point in a regional war that began when the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February. Houthi attacks that disrupted flights at Riyadh's main airport led Saudi Arabia to postpone this year's Future Investment Initiative conference, which has now been rescheduled for October 2027.

On Wednesday, Saudi civil defence said it had intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles, with debris falling in the Mecca region, including the village of Sabuhah. A Houthi military spokesperson denied on Thursday that the group had targeted Mecca. The Houthis have repeatedly denied aiming at Islam's two holiest cities, Mecca and Medina.

The conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, who seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014, had been largely frozen by a UN-brokered truce in 2022. Fighting resumed earlier this year, with Houthi strikes on Saudi territory and Saudi air strikes in Yemen. The escalation also threatens shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern entrance to the Red Sea that tankers leaving Yanbu for Asia must pass through.

Oil traders will watch for any confirmation of damage from Saudi Aramco or the Saudi government, which would show whether the kingdom's main bypass route has been affected.