Oil rose 3% and hit 108 dollars, a market reaction to the closure of the Saudi "East-West" pipeline, which was shipping oil production through the Red Sea, avoiding the problematic Strait of Hormuz. This closure puts the world at risk of losing up to 4% of global oil supply if the pipeline is not operational in the coming days, according to Reuters.
The attack on the pipeline was carried out using a drone and is believed to have been launched from Iraq, constituting a new front of attack against Saudi Arabia. This incident joins existing threats from Iran and the Houthi rebels in Yemen against the Saudi kingdom.
The new rise in oil prices comes amid an already very challenging economic context, with inflation rising again, interest rate hikes in the eurozone and likely in the United States, and sovereign bond yields at their highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis.
At the Saudi port of Yanbu, on the Red Sea, there is only enough oil stock to cover up to one week of exports, which further aggravates the situation of uncertainty in the global oil market.
