Iranian attack damages Saudi Arabia's oil pipeline bypassing Hormuz: report
Earlier, explosions were reported at the Lavan refinery in southern Iran hours after the announcement of a two-week truce.
Saudi Arabia's crucial East-West oil pipeline, currently its only outlet for crude exports, was hit in an Iranian attack and other facilities in the kingdom were also targeted, an industry source told Reuters.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted nine drones over the past few hours, despite the announcement of a two-week truce by the US and Iran mediated by Pakistan.
The pipeline was diverting around 7 million barrels per day (bpd) from the kingdom's oil heartland in the east to the Red Sea port of Yanbu after Iran effectively shuttered the Strait of Hormuz, trapping huge volumes of oil and gas and sending world energy markets skyrocketing.
Flows through the pipeline are expected to be affected, the source said, adding damage was being assessed.
That could exacerbate what experts have called the world's worst energy crisis.
Hours after a temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran, the Gulf continued to report disruptions as intercepted drones and missiles caused injuries and infrastructure damage across multiple countries, with IRGC saying they still have their “finger on the trigger” and are “ready to respond to any attack with more force, despite the truce.
Aramco uses about 2 million bpd domestically, leaving roughly 5 million bpd for export. Yanbu loadings averaged a near-capacity 4.6 million bpd in the week starting March 23, shipping data shows, despite attacks targeting the hub on March 19.
Meanwhile, explosions were reported at the Lavan refinery in southern Iran, hours after the announcement of the two-week ceasefire, according to Iranian media.
Mehr News Agency said several explosions occurred at the refinery facility on Lavan Island in the Gulf.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement on Wednesday it hit several targets across the region with missiles and drones, including what it called oil facilities of American companies in Yanbu.