Saudi pipeline hit by drones will be out of service for weeks, further restricting oil flow

BREAKING: A Saudi oil pipeline hit by drones will be out of service for weeks, further restricting oil flow, as fresh Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia and Iranian attacks on Gulf shipping push crude prices higher.

A Saudi oil pipeline just got knocked out for weeks by drones.

That's the assessment tonight. Not days, weeks. The strike is the latest in a wave of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, and it lands right as Iranian attacks on shipping in the Gulf are already squeezing the routes crude has to travel. You can picture the chokepoint here, the Strait of Hormuz, where a huge share of the world's oil passes through on tankers.

So now the market has two problems at once. Less oil flowing through the pipes on land, and more risk for every ship trying to carry it by sea. Crude prices are climbing, and traders don't wait for repair crews to finish before they reprice a war zone.

Here's the fact that matters most. Every week that pipeline stays dark, the world's spare oil capacity gets thinner, and the price of everything that moves gets heavier.

This is Angel Manalo, reporting for HIT.