On October 5, reports citing Agence France-Presse said Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline had suspended operations after being attacked once again, causing Brent crude to spike briefly into positive territory.

Subsequently, Bloomberg cited informed sources as saying the Saudi East-West oil pipeline was operating normally, and both U.S. and Brent crude fell by more than $1 in short order.

Another Attack?

On October 5, AFP cited a source in Saudi Arabia's energy industry as saying the East-West pipeline had been attacked again the previous day.

The source told AFP explicitly: "The East-West pipeline was attacked again yesterday. The site was a pumping station in the Khurais area east of Riyadh, a location that had never been targeted before. The damage was very severe, and the pipeline has once again stopped transporting oil."

The Khurais pumping station had not previously been among the targets — a detail suggesting the scope of attacks is widening.

Satellite imagery showed repair work had already been underway near Dhahran on the pipeline as of September 22; footage of another damaged section had also emerged earlier, on September 13. The pipeline has been targeted multiple times over the past several weeks.

Following the AFP report, oil prices climbed rapidly. The East-West pipeline is strategic-level infrastructure for Saudi Arabia, with a daily transport capacity of about 5 million barrels, capable of moving crude from eastern oil fields to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.

This was not the first time the pipeline had come under attack. About a month earlier, Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline was struck by projectiles around September 11, sparking a fire, at which point the Saudi Ministry of Energy announced a precautionary shutdown of sections in the Riyadh and Medina areas.

Reports of Normal Operations Emerge, Oil Prices Retreat

Afterward, Bloomberg News, citing "people familiar with the situation," reported that the East-West pipeline was operating normally and that oil continued to flow.

The report noted that the people requested anonymity because they were discussing non-public information.

The latest report directly contradicted AFP. Oil prices edged lower as a result.

But the market did not settle down. Prices did not stabilize at low levels, instead rising again.

Pressure at Bab el-Mandeb Strait Persists, Regional Situation Remains Turbulent

Meanwhile, shipping pressure at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, increased significantly in early September. According to Xinhua citing industry media Middle East Logistics, only 6 vessels passed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on September 10, a sharp drop to single digits from more than 20 to 30 in previous days.

This plunge is directly related to the rapid advance of Houthi forces along Yemen's western coast. At that time, Houthi forces had entered the town of Zubab adjacent to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and Yemeni government forces withdrew the same day from Perim Island within the strait.

Zubab and Perim Island are crucial to controlling the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. According to a report, on October 5, Yemeni government forces launched a full-scale counteroffensive with air support from the Saudi-led multinational coalition, and the "Giants Brigade" and "Homeland Shield" forces had regained control of the Zubab area, with the situation still evolving.

At present, geopolitical risks in the Middle East continue to intertwine across multiple fronts — from repeated attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure to uncertainty over shipping security in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea — and the market remains highly alert to any new signal of supply disruption.