Brent Tops $109 as Aramco Suspends Yanbu Loadings and Libya Outages Compound Saudi Pipeline Shock

Shipping industry sources said Sep 15 that Saudi Aramco suspended crude loadings at its Red Sea port of Yanbu -- the export outlet for the East-West ('Petroline') pipeline that has been shut since Sep 11 drone strikes -- and told European customers some September-loading cargoes would be cancelled; Aramco declined to comment. The Yanbu halt landed alongside a second, unrelated supply shock: Libya's National Oil Corporation suspended operations at three oil fields after Petroleum Facilities Guard members shut a valve on the Hamada-Zawiya export pipeline in a labor dispute. The combined shock, layered on the Strait of Hormuz's near-shutdown and the widening Bab el-Mandeb crisis, pushed Brent up $3.07 (2.9%) to settle at $108.75/bbl -- touching an intraday $109.20, its highest of the crisis -- while WTI jumped $4.44 (4.4%) to $105.83, with US crude briefly up more than 5% intraday. Dated Brent, which prices physical cargoes, traded above $130 for the first time since April. Bernstein analysts warned Brent could climb to $120-150/bbl if the disruptions persist; US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, speaking at a G20 energy meeting in Houston, said the pipeline outage 'will be measured in days,' though UK officials and some industry sources cited repair estimates ranging from weeks to five-to-six weeks.