Saudi oil refiners cut October shipments to Europe

Saudi Arabia’s Aramco planned to skip its contracted monthly shipments of crude oil next month for at least two European refiners, according to a Friday report by Bloomberg News, citing unnamed sources close to the situation. The supply change came after a drone attack last week shut down Saudi’s East-West pipeline. Aramco is expected to partially restore the pipeline’s operations by next week, and resume full capacity by mid November, according to Bloomberg News.

Who launched the attack? No group formally claimed the Sept. 11 drone attack on the Saudi pipeline, though officials believe the drone launched from Iraq. European customers depending on the oil now appeared to scramble to make ends meet for energy next month.

Dig deeper: Listen to this report on The World and Everything in It about the Houthi rebels' increasing pressure on Saudi and Yemeni interests.