Oil tops $120 per barrel as Saudi Arabia “turns off the tap” – Europe seeks alternatives

Saudi Arabia has halted oil shipments to Europe after drone attacks damaged a key export pipeline leading to the Red Sea.

TodayPress TV reports, citing Reuters, that the move has forced major buyers such as Poland to urgently seek alternative supplies as the price of a barrel of oil surpassed $120.

It should be noted that the attacks, which Saudi Arabia has blamed on Iraqi armed groups, forced the kingdom to shut down the East-West oil pipeline on September 11. The pipeline had protected the kingdom from the severe consequences of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz over the past six months.

Oil trading and shipping sources said Saudi Arabia had warned its European customers that some crude oil cargoes scheduled for September would be cancelled and that oil loading at the Red Sea port of Yanbu had been suspended.

State-owned oil company Saudi Aramco declined to comment on the matter.

According to trading sources, reduced shipments through the Red Sea will push Saudi Arabia to export more oil through the Strait of Hormuz using a method similar to the “dark shipping” employed by the UAE and Iraq.

Such shipments have enabled Gulf oil producers to export 7–9 million barrels of oil per day, equivalent to 30–40% of pre-war volumes.

Aysel Matlab