Saudi Arabian oil pipeline system hit by projectiles triggering fires

A key oil pipeline system in Saudi Arabia was struck by projectiles on Thursday, according to two US officials familiar with the matter.

An early analysis found that pump stations, which are located next to the pipeline itself, were hit, one of the US officials said. A satellite image taken Friday appears to show extensive fire damage at one pumping station, and an image of a different pumping station, taken Thursday, showed a small fire sending up plumes of thick, black smoke.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes or if sections of the pipeline itself were damaged but one of the officials said it was struck by drones originating from Iraq. It was also not immediately clear how long it would take to repair the damage, sources said.

The strike signals that the kingdom’s oil resources — and its ability to export those resources — are facing increasing threats as the Iran War continues. The attacks on the pipeline come within days of an Iranian-aligned militia’s seizure of a strategic Red Sea port city in Yemen that could further threaten energy shipping in the region.

This week oil prices surged past $100 a barrel amid sharp swings driven by events in the Middle East.

The Saudi Arabian government and state oil giant Aramco did not respond to requests for comment. The State Department and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. US Central Command declined to comment on the incident.

US officials have been working to collect intelligence on the incident, according to a source familiar.

Though the source of the attack was unclear, Iran-allied militia groups in Iraq have used drones in the past to attack Saudi Arabia, according to Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iran program senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), and may have done so again amid a broader Iranian strategy to use its proxies to push Arab nations to reject American forces in the region.

In late July, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman met with US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in Washington, DC, to convey the Kingdom’s assessment on the ongoing US war with Iran – that Iran would seek to create leverage through escalation and would try to make use of its remaining proxies – militias in Iraq and the Houthis – to do so, sources told CNN.

Satellites detected nine large fires burning close to Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline on Thursday, though the locations of at least six of the fires appeared to correspond to flare pits, where oil and gas can be burned off in the event of an emergency.

The pipeline has become key to Saudi Arabia since the outbreak of the US-Iran war. The kingdom has rerouted about 5 million barrels of oil per day that would have been destined for awaiting oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, as Iran effectively shuttered the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, that oil has traveled through its East-West pipeline to its port of Yanbu on the Red Sea.

With Houthi fighters declaring they would target any Saudi ships attempting to pass through Bab al-Mandeb out of the Red Sea, that outlet for the kingdom’s oil could also be at risk.

Repairing pump stations could be less burdensome than repairing major damage to the pipeline itself, said US officials and experts.

The strike on the pipeline system also comes as Saudi Arabia reported to OPEC that its production of crude oil plunged last month, sinking to the lowest levels since 1990.

CNN’s Jennifer Hansler and Nadeen Ebrahim contributed to this report.

据两名熟悉此事的美国官员透露，沙特阿拉伯一条重要的输油管道系统周四遭到炮弹袭击。

一位美国官员表示，初步分析发现，位于输油管道旁的泵站遭到袭击。周五拍摄的卫星图像显示，其中一个泵站似乎遭受了严重的火灾破坏；而周四拍摄的另一个泵站的图像显示，一处小火冒出了滚滚浓烟。

目前尚不清楚是谁发动了此次袭击，也不清楚输油管道本身是否遭到破坏，但一位官员表示，袭击是由来自伊拉克的无人机发起的。消息人士称，目前也不清楚修复工作需要多长时间。

此次袭击表明，随着伊朗战争的持续，沙特阿拉伯的石油资源及其出口能力正面临日益严峻的威胁。就在几天前，一支与伊朗结盟的民兵组织占领了也门一座具有战略意义的红海港口城市，这可能进一步威胁该地区的能源运输。

本周，受中东局势影响，油价剧烈波动，一度突破每桶100美元。

沙特阿拉伯政府和国家石油公司（沙特阿美）均未回应置评请求。美国国务院和白宫也未立即回应置评请求。美国中央司令部拒绝就此事发表评论。

据一位知情人士透露，美国官员一直在努力收集有关该事件的情报。

尽管袭击的来源尚不清楚，但据保卫民主基金会 (FDD) 伊朗项目高级主管贝赫纳姆·本·塔莱布鲁 (Behnam Ben Taleblu) 称，伊拉克境内与伊朗结盟的民兵组织过去曾使用无人机袭击沙特阿拉伯，而此次袭击可能再次是伊朗更广泛战略的一部分，即利用其代理人迫使阿拉伯国家拒绝美国在该地区驻军。

据 CNN 报道，消息人士称，7 月下旬，沙特国防大臣哈立德·本·萨勒曼在华盛顿特区会见了美国总统唐纳德·特朗普和副总统 JD·万斯，传达了沙特王国对美国与伊朗之间持续战争的评估——伊朗将寻求通过升级局势来获取筹码，并试图利用其剩余的代理人——伊拉克民兵和胡塞武装——来实现这一目标。

周四，卫星探测到沙特阿拉伯东西输油管道附近有九处大型火灾正在燃烧，但至少有六处火灾的位置似乎与火炬坑相对应，在紧急情况下，石油和天然气可以在那里燃烧掉。

自美伊战争爆发以来，这条输油管道对沙特阿拉伯至关重要。由于伊朗封锁了霍尔木兹海峡，沙特阿拉伯每天不得不将原本运往波斯湾等待的油轮的约500万桶石油改道运输。这些石油现在通过其东西向输油管道输送到红海沿岸的延布港。

胡塞武装宣布将袭击任何试图通过曼德海峡离开红海的沙特船只，这意味着沙特王国的石油出口也可能面临风险。

美国官员和专家表示，修复泵站可能比修复管道本身的重大损坏负担要小。

此次输油管道系统遭袭事件发生之际，沙特阿拉伯向欧佩克报告称，其原油产量上个月大幅下降，降至 1990 年以来的最低水平。

CNN的詹妮弗·汉斯勒和纳丁·易卜拉欣对本报道亦有贡献。