DOMINANT ANGLE
Bucharest is measuring the energy shockwave of the attack on the Saudi oil pipeline, fearing a tougher winter for a Europe already weakened by the gas crisis in Qatar.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
The East-West pipeline, 1,200 kilometres long, transported between 4 and 5 million barrels of crude oil per day, or 4 to 5% of the global supply, before its closure was decided as a precaution by the Saudi Ministry of Energy
- 02
Saudi oil production had already fallen to 6 million barrels per day in August, its lowest level in 30 years
- 03
An Iranian strike on the Qatari gas complex of Ras Laffan damaged two of its fourteen production units, with repairs estimated to take between three and five years, while European gas reserves were only filled to 67% at the beginning of September, compared to nearly 80% a year earlier
ANALYSIS
Bucharest, September 13, 2026. The temporary closure of the Saudi East-West oil pipeline, decided after a series of drone attacks targeting pumping stations near Medina, is seen in Bucharest less as a military episode in the Middle East than as a new blow to an already struggling energy market. According to Mediafax, citing Reuters, this 1,200-kilometer pipeline, which allows Saudi Arabia to transport between 4 and 5 million barrels per day to the Red Sea while avoiding the Strait of Hormuz, carried "the equivalent of 4 to 5% of the world's oil supply" in recent months. Its shutdown, decided by the Saudi Ministry of Energy "as a precautionary measure", deprives Riyadh of its main bypass route, while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is already reduced to very low levels due to the war between the United States and Iran.
The Romanian press links this closure to an already bleak regional picture: Saudi production had fallen in August to 6 million barrels per day, "a minimum level in 30 years", while Qatar, hit by an Iranian strike on the Ras Laffan gas complex, saw two of its fourteen production units damaged, with repairs estimated to take between three and five years. QatarEnergy is now negotiating long-term purchases of American liquefied gas, while the country previously supplied a fifth of the world's LNG production.
It is this chain of consequences that worries Bucharest: the war in the Middle East has already reduced global liquefied gas deliveries by around 20%, a contraction considered particularly severe for Europe as the heating season approaches. European gas reservoirs were only filled to about 67% of their capacity at the beginning of September, compared to nearly 80% a year earlier. Baghdad and Riyadh both claim that the drones came from Iraqi territory, where several Iran-backed armed groups operate; the Iraqi government has condemned the attack and opened an investigation, without it being established at this stage who actually launched the drones. For the Romanian press, the key issue is not to determine whether Tehran or Iraqi militias are responsible, but to measure how this new setback, added to the Qatari damage, could further drive up energy prices in Europe before winter.
