Saudi pipeline shutdown threatens oil exports to Europe and Asia as kingdom relies on stored supplies

Saudi Arabia is relying on stored oil to maintain exports after drone attacks shut its East-West pipeline, threatening deliveries to buyers in Europe and Asia. Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry announced the shutdown on Friday as a precaution, after the pipeline was attacked in the Riyadh and Medina regions last Thursday. It said emergency and technical teams were securing the pipeline and checking its safety. Saudi and Iraqi authorities said the drone attack originated in Iraq . The ministry’s announcement did not say when pumping would resume or give a full account of the damage.