What the closure of Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline could mean for oil flows

CHICAGO (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s closure of a major oil pipeline after a recent attack is raising fears that global energy markets in crisis because of the war with Iran could face even starker shortages, pushing prices higher for fuel and other essentials. The largest oil producer in the Middle East closed its East-West pipeline on Friday after the attack, which it blamed on drones from Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. Two regional officials told The Associated Press that repairs could take three to five weeks. The pipeline is crucial to getting some crude out of the Middle East by shipping it to the Red Sea rather than through the Strait of Hormuz , the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passed before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in February. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have seized islands along key Red Sea shipping routes, further threatening Saudi exports.

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