ANZ: Saudi oil pipeline shutdown is temporary, but risks are rising

ANZ analysts said in a research note that the Saudi East-West oil pipeline is expected to be only temporarily shut down, but the attack on the pipeline has raised the overall risk of supply disruptions in the Middle East. Analysts including Daniel Hynes and Soni Kumari said the pipeline will most likely be out of service only briefly, as similar historical disruptions have generally been repaired within one to two weeks. Nevertheless, this attack shows that regional energy infrastructure has now become a direct target for Iran and its surrounding armed proxy groups. If more supply disruptions occur later, with the oil market's buffer space continuing to narrow, the market can only rebalance supply and demand by pushing oil prices higher to curb demand.