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FEARS of further disruption to global oil supplies intensified on Sunday after a vessel was reportedly hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, a day after Saudi Arabia temporarily shut a vital oil pipeline following a drone attack.
The British navy-affiliated United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it had received a report of a projectile striking a vessel as it transited the Strait of Hormuz.
The extent of the damage and the condition of the crew were not immediately known, UKMTO said.
Reuters cited on Sunday that the report came a day after Saudi Arabia said it had temporarily closed its 1,200-km East-West pipeline as a precaution following a drone attack that both Riyadh and Baghdad said originated in Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias operate.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the pipeline attack.
Satellite imagery showed black smoke rising from an area of the pipeline south of Medina, while the Saudi Foreign Ministry said the attack caused some injuries and damage that was still being assessed.
The pipeline has served as Saudi Arabia’s main alternative export route while the Strait of Hormuz has been largely shut by the war.
It has been carrying about four million to five million barrels of oil a day, equivalent to roughly 4% to 5% of global supply, helping Saudi Arabia avoid some of the disruption that has hit other Gulf oil and gas exporters.
The latest incidents threaten to intensify pressure on energy markets after Brent crude surged back above US$100 a barrel last week.
US President Donald Trump, visiting Ireland for a golf tournament at one of his resorts, said Iran was probably responsible for the Saudi pipeline attack.
Saudi Civil Defence said on Saturday that a projectile fired by the Houthis injured two people in the Jazan region and damaged several buildings, including a mosque.
The developments have also increased pressure on Washington over whether to assist Saudi Arabia against the Houthis, risking a further widening of the conflict.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Trump on Thursday to request US military assistance against the Houthis, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
They said Trump told the Saudi leader that Washington would not intervene directly for now but would provide intelligence support.
Trump confirmed on Saturday that he had spoken to the crown prince and said the Houthis had also contacted his administration to ask Washington not to become directly involved.
Four Yemeni government sources said the Houthis seized the strategic island of Perim on Friday in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping route linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
Meanwhile, prospects for a breakthrough in efforts to end the US-Iran conflict remained limited.
Iranian parliament National Security Committee chairman Ebrahim Azizi said on X on Saturday: “As long as the American side does not accept all of Iran's conditions, dialogue and negotiation are of no use.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Tehran would attend a meeting with Gulf Arab states in Oman on Monday to discuss the future of the Strait of Hormuz.
However, a senior Iranian official said the meeting, initiated by Oman, was unlikely to produce a breakthrough or a signed agreement.
A source told Tasnim news agency that an agreement on routes through the strait between Iran and Oman would be presented at Monday’s meeting, which will also include Iraq, but that the waterway would not reopen unless seven conditions conveyed by Iran to the United States were met.
Iran wants its control over the Strait of Hormuz to be recognised, including the right to collect fees from ships using the waterway, a demand rejected by Washington.
Oman, which controls the opposite bank of the strait, said it was negotiating with the agreement of other regional states. - September 13, 2026
