Long term contracts for oil shipments to European refiners will be suspended for the month of October after a September 10 drone attack disabled the Saudi East-West pipeline. Saudi Aramco notified all European customers that their crude allocations for next month are zero, cutting an import flow that averaged 577,000 BPD. This shutdown eliminates the kingdom's primary route bypassing the Strait of Hormuz and requires more tankers to use the Persian Gulf corridor.

Regional violence intensified on September 18 with three tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and the launch of four anti-ship cruise missiles from Sirik, Iran. Saudi Arabia is currently installing a bypass around the damaged pumping station to restore roughly half of the pipeline's capacity. Political advisor Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr stated that Iran will not open the Strait until U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are removed from power.