The Saudi Arabia pipeline attacks just redefined Middle East oil risk

The East-West pipeline has been particularly important to Saudi Arabia, allowing it to divert 7 million barrels of oil per day to the opposite side of the Middle East from the Strait of Hormuz. The country exports as much as 5 million of those barrels from a terminal on the Red Sea. If those supplies become unavailable because of the pipeline damage, the world will be at a more severe oil deficit—and prices are almost certain to rise. On Friday, Brent crude, the international benchmark, settled at $104.61 per barrel, up 8.7% on the week.