Saudi East-West Oil Pipeline Targeted Again in Medina Region, Operations Unaffected

The attack caused a "limited fire" that was extinguished, the official said, according to the Saudi Press Agency report. No one was injured or killed and pipeline operations were not affected. The official did not say who was responsible or describe the weapon used, and Gulf News said the cause was under investigation.

The pipeline has become one of the most important pieces of energy infrastructure in the Gulf. Since the war involving Iran disrupted flows through Hormuz, Riyadh has rerouted about 4 million barrels per day of crude through the 1,200km line to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, equivalent to about 4 per cent of global supply, according to Al Jazeera and Khaleej Times. Khaleej Times said the route has spared Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, from the worst of the wartime shutdown of the strait, which has crippled exports from its neighbours.

Monday's incident is not the first. The pipeline was shut for several days in September after drone attacks, which Saudi Arabia said were launched from Iraq and blamed on Iraqi militias. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have also repeatedly attacked Saudi oil infrastructure, including refineries and storage facilities, with drones and missiles, and fighting between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government coalition has intensified, Al Jazeera reported.

Shipping in and around the strait remains under pressure. Maritime agencies said strikes on tankers rose sharply in October and stayed at their highest rate since the conflict began, The National reported, and Iranian state television said on Monday that 11 tankers had been disabled in the previous 10 days.

The diplomatic picture is uncertain. US President Donald Trump said at the White House on Monday that further military action against Iran no longer seemed necessary and that the war could end "fairly soon", while Iranian officials disputed that negotiations were making progress.