Oil prices jumped more than $2 a barrel on Thursday afternoon, November 12, after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said they had attacked a pumping station on Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline and an oil facility at Yanbu on the kingdom's Red Sea coast, Reuters reported from New York — a sharp reversal of the morning's fall, as attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure escalated and shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz threatened global supplies.

Source: Reuters

Brent futures were up $2.44, or 2.63%, at $95.20 a barrel at 1:49 p.m. ET, and US West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.66, or 1.92%, at $88.19, Reuters said. Earlier on Thursday the same market had traded the other way: Brent had fallen to $91.29 in Asian trading on peace-talk hopes and rising OPEC+ output.

Source: Reuters

What the Houthis claimed — and what is not confirmed

The Houthis said on Thursday they had attacked a pumping station on the East-West pipeline and an oil facility in Yanbu, Reuters reported. The group also claimed an attack on a building of Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil-producing company, in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the Houthis did not specify which day they had carried out the attacks, Reuters said. The claims are reported here as claims; there was no immediate Saudi confirmation.

Source: Reuters

In the Gulf, tankers are still ablaze and oil spills are washing ashore, Reuters reported, and Iran's military said on Thursday that four oil tankers were hit by explosions in the Strait of Hormuz after ignoring warnings. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the Iranian accounts.

Source: Reuters

Why this pipeline now carries the Gulf's oil

With the US-Israeli war on Iran disrupting flows through the Strait of Hormuz — which carried nearly one-fifth of the world's crude oil before the conflict — Riyadh has rerouted about 4 million barrels per day of crude via the East-West Pipeline to Yanbu, equivalent to about 4% of global supply, Reuters reported. At Thursday's Brent price of $95.20, that rerouted flow alone is worth roughly $381 million a day — yaani lagbhag 38 crore dollar rozana — which is why any claimed hit on the line moves world prices within hours.

Source: Reuters

The same pipeline was hit near Madinah on November 9, when Saudi Arabia reported a limited fire and no injuries. Read: East-West pipeline hit near Madinah, limited fire reported

A market pulled in two directions

Prices had fallen earlier on Thursday after US President Donald Trump posted on social media that Washington did not need a deal with Iran — "We've got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we've got their Strait!" he wrote — and after OPEC+ data showed crude production rose in October, driven by higher Saudi output, Reuters reported. US crude, gasoline and distillate inventories also rose last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday. Even after Thursday's jump, both Brent and WTI remained on track to end the week about 3% lower.

Source: Reuters

"The tit-for-tat exchanges between Russia and Ukraine and attacks on shipping by the IRGC are beginning to add additional price pressure," Timothy Snyder, chief economist at Matador Economics, told Reuters. "It is beginning to look like investors are growing weary from hearing the same song on peace prospects."

Source: Reuters

What it means for Gulf workers, and what happens next

Saudi Arabia hosts one of the largest Indian and Punjabi worker communities in the Gulf, including in the Yanbu industrial zone and in Riyadh, so claimed attacks on oil facilities in both places are watched closely by families back home. No casualties were reported in Thursday's claims. What to watch: any Saudi confirmation or denial of damage to the pipeline or the Yanbu facility, whether exports through Yanbu are affected, and whether oil holds above $95 or falls back if the claims are not borne out.