Saudi Arabia’s Key East-West Pipeline Has Been Hit. Riyadh Now Expects To Resume Pumping In Days.

Saudi Arabia shut down its key East-West pipeline last Friday after sustaining multiple hits. Riyadh now expects to resume partial pumping in a matter of days, according to a new report.

A person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Saudi Aramco is working to bypass a damaged region soon, and to return to full capacity in about six weeks. The pipeline transports about 4% of global oil supplies.

The development marks another major threat to Riyadh's oil exports, as Iran is preventing most ships from transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, and the Houthis have declared an embargo of Saudi oil in the Red Sea, targeting its ships in the waterway and striking energy infrastructure.

The Houthis also reached the island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait earlier this month, a breakthrough that could help the group tighten its grip on the key shipping lane.

Another report detailed that China asked Iran to rein in Yemen's Houthis after getting a request from Saudi Arabia.

According to Reuters, Beijing asked Tehran to use its influence on the Houthis to prevent the conflict from spreading further as it threatens more global export hubs.

It did not detail the way in which China conveyed the message, but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited China this week and met with his counterpart Wang Yi.

Responding to a request from the outlet, the Chinese foreign ministry said "China does not wish to see regional tensions further spill over into Yemen and the Red Sea. Escalating regional instability is not in the interests of ​any party".

At the same time, Washington officials reportedly met with Houthi representatives, who told them that they won't target U.S. or Israeli ships.

Reuters detailed in another report that the meeting took place at the U.S. Embassy in Oman, and that Muscat helped organize the meeting. It went on to note that Washington has held negotiations with the group despite designating it as a "foreign terrorist organization" in march 2025.

The parties signed a ceasefire in May of last year after after the U.S. conducted a two-months long campaign against the Houthis to prevent them from keep targeting ships in the Red Sea. In the Oman meeting, representatives told Washington that they intended to abide by the ceasefire and would only target Saudi ships.

Hostilities between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have continued in the meantime. Riyadh said on Wednesday that it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone before it could enter the airspace over Mecca, calling it a "deliberate act intended to provoke the feelings of millions of Muslims."

A spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition that has been clashing with the Houthis since 2015 said the holy city for Islam is a "red line." The Houthis rejected the claim, calling it a "worn-out lie that has been used before and no longer fools anyone."