Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure have renewed concerns about supply disruptions across global energy markets. According to Oilprice.com, the kingdom’s East-West pipeline is now under threat, and any significant damage could jeopardize 3-4 million barrels per day of Saudi crude exports.
The report says fire and smoke were seen near the pipeline, while Sentinel and NASA satellite imagery indicated active fires and thermal anomalies in the area. That has made oil markets even more sensitive to the risk of further disruptions to Middle Eastern supply.
Although a weekend meeting of Gulf foreign ministers helped cool some of the most aggressive price expectations, Brent still held around $105 per barrel. At the same time, some Middle Eastern grades, including Murban and Oman, climbed to $120 per barrel. The publication notes that if the current situation drags on, prices may move beyond those levels.
The article also points to a weaker demand outlook from OPEC. The group cut its 2026 global oil demand growth forecast to 380,000 b/d, down by 200,000 b/d from a month earlier and marking its fifth straight downward revision. At the same time, it raised its 2027 outlook, expecting demand to recover by 2.36 million b/d.
Saudi crude output, the report says, fell to 6.24 million b/d in August, down 1.9 million b/d from July and the lowest since 1990. According to the article, renewed Houthi-related disruptions reduced exports by roughly one-third and put additional pressure on the kingdom’s export routes.
The story also outlines a broader market backdrop. In the United States, diesel inventories are projected to fall below 100 million barrels for the first time since 2003, while the EIA raised its fourth-quarter 2026 diesel price forecast by 14% to $5.55 per gallon. Retail prices have already moved above $6 per gallon.
In Europe, gas prices rose to a 44-month high, moving above €80/MWh. The publication links that jump to concerns over possible disruption at Russia’s Yamal LNG facility as well as Qatar’s extension of force majeure ahead of the winter heating season.
Other developments cited in the report include Bangladesh’s agreement to buy 18 LNG cargoes from TotalEnergies, requests from several Asian refiners for Saudi Aramco to price 2027 term crude against ICE Brent instead of Dubai, and Iraq’s push to raise its OPEC production baseline to 6 million b/d from 4.43 million b/d.
Overall, the article argues that the threat to Saudi Arabia’s key export route bypassing Hormuz has become not just a regional issue, but a global pricing risk for the oil market.
