France to protect Saudi energy sites after Houthi attacks

• Brent falls almost 1 percent
• Missiles target Taif and Yanbu
• Macron: ‘we’ll send military resources’

France has offered to help protect Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure after Yemen’s Houthi militia continued its attacks on Aramco oil facilities in Yanbu, on the Red Sea.

The East-West pipeline, which transports crude from oilfields in the east to refineries and ports in the west, was shut on September 12 after a drone attack launched from Iraq.

France’s offer comes as Iran has set out seven conditions to end the war to the US and said it is open to negotiations.

Brent crude futures fell 0.94 percent to $105.60 a barrel at 03:50 GMT on Friday, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined 1.60 percent to $93.09 a barrel.

The spread between Brent and WTI is the widest since May.

Six ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis towards Taif and Yanbu were destroyed, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.

The Houthis had focused on a “sensitive target” in Riyadh and Aramco facilities in Yanbu, its spokesperson said.

France will provide military support to Saudi Arabia to help protect the Red Sea port city of Yanbu, French president Emmanuel Macron said.

“We are going to send military resources, that is to say, soldiers, radar systems and defence systems, to protect this site, not to get us involved in any conflicts,” he told TF1 and France 2 TV.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told the Financial Times and other media that Tehran has introduced a plan to the US through mediators that “if certain conditions are met … the strait will be open in seven days”.

Further reading:

• War deepens Saudi Arabia’s expatriate jobs slump
• Gulf oil tankers earn $1m a day in ‘perfect storm’ of crises
• Saudi Red Sea oil stocks slump after pipeline attack

Meanwhile, the Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish foreign ministers met in the US and agreed to hold an urgent meeting of their chiefs of staff to discuss ways to support Riyadh under the Mecca joint defence pact, the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.

The US-Iran conflict has seen both countries enforcing blockades to control the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway through which a fifth of oil supplies transited before the war began.

At least 60 vessels went through the strait on Wednesday, carrying the highest daily volume of crude oil since early July, Reuters reported, quoting an unidentified US official.

Most Gulf stock exchanges ended lower on Thursday, with Saudi Arabia’s benchmark closing 0.8 percent down. Dubai and Abu Dhabi fell 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent respectively, while Qatar dropped 0.7 percent. Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait closed flat.