Saudi ministry says pipeline fire extinguished after new attack

Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline was attacked again on Monday in the western Medina region, according to an account citing an energy ministry official. The official said a limited fire had been extinguished, with no injuries or deaths and no disruption to pipeline operations.

The account did not identify who carried out the attack. Previous attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and the wider conflict involving Yemen's Houthi movement do not establish responsibility for this incident. No claim of responsibility was confirmed in the report.

The pipeline provides an alternative route for crude exports when shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted. It stretches roughly 1,200 kilometres across the Arabian Peninsula towards the Red Sea port of Yanbu.

Saudi Arabia has diverted about four million barrels a day through the route following disruption to oil flows through Hormuz, according to the report. That makes the pipeline an important part of the response to the regional energy crisis.

The route was closed for several days after attacks in September that Saudi Arabia said originated in Iraq. That earlier attribution concerns a separate incident. The ministry's statement about Monday's fire addresses the immediate operational effect, not the identity of an attacker or a broader end to risks facing oil infrastructure.