00:01Saudi Arabia is relying on stored oil to maintain exports after drone attacks shut its east-west pipeline, threatening deliveries
00:10to buyers in Europe and Asia.
00:12Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry announced the shutdown on Friday as a precaution after the pipeline was attacked last Thursday.
00:21Saudi oil buyers and traders quoted in reports published on Sunday estimated that a prolonged shutdown could put at risk
00:29around 4% of global oil supply.
00:32They estimated that oil stored at the Red Sea port of Yanbu could keep exports going for five to seven
00:39days.
00:40Saudi authorities have not confirmed either estimate.
00:43Brent crude climbed above $108 a barrel on Monday following further attacks on energy facilities and shipping in the Middle
00:52East.
00:52The roughly 1,200-kilometre pipeline carries oil from eastern Saudi Arabia to Yanbu on the west coast.
01:00It allows exports to live through the Red Sea without tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
01:06A shutdown does not mean global oil supplies immediately fall by seven million barrels a day.
01:11Tankers can still load oil stored near export terminals, but those supplies will run down unless more oil arrives.
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