RIYADH: A suspected drone strike targeted a critical pumping station on Saudi Arabia’s East-West “Petroline” late on Wednesday, hours after attack on Iran’s Lavan oil refinery, dealing a blow to the kingdom’s primary energy lifeline just hours after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Iran was announced.
The strike followed a major attack yesterday on Iran’s Lavan Island oil refinery. Despite the ceasefire declaration, the 55,000-bpd Lavan facility was reported to be still in flames today. Tehran has described the strike on its refinery as a “cowardly act” by its enemies, suggesting the truce remains fragile at best.
The attack on the 1,200-km Saudi pipeline, which transports crude from the Eastern Province to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, marks a significant escalation in regional tensions that have persisted despite diplomatic efforts to halt a wider war.
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Western media reports quoted industry sources confirming the damage at a pumping station along the line. At the time of the strike, the Petroline was operating at an emergency capacity of 7 million barrels per day (bpd)—a surge intended to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, which has remained effectively shuttered since the conflict intensified in late February.
While Saudi Aramco has not yet released a formal damage assessment, the disruption threatens the roughly 5 million bpd of crude currently exported via Yanbu, the kingdom’s only remaining viable maritime outlet.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for a broader wave of overnight operations, stating it targeted “energy complexes and oil transfer lines linked to the U.S. and Israel,” including facilities owned by American companies in the industrial hub of Yanbu.
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Middle East observers believe the renewed violence has tempered the brief optimism that followed Tuesday’s announcement of a two-week humanitarian ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.
