Satellite data shows fire activity along Saudi East-West oil pipeline route

Satellite imagery and NASA fire-detection data showed smoke and thermal activity Friday along the route of Saudi Arabia’s strategic East-West oil pipeline, raising concerns over a possible attack on the key crude export route.

Reports citing videos also point to possible fire along Saudi Arabia’s strategic East-West oil pipeline.

Sentinel-3 satellite imagery showed a large black smoke plume over the desert between Medina and Mahd adh Dhahab, along the general route of the pipeline, reports said. NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) also recorded clustered thermal anomalies in the area.

NASA says FIRMS detects active fires and other thermal anomalies from satellites, but the data alone cannot determine what is burning or the cause of the heat source.

There has been no independent confirmation that the pipeline was struck or that the reported fire involved oil infrastructure.

The reports come after Yemen’s Houthi group carried out missile and drone attacks against targets in Saudi Arabia this week, including energy infrastructure.

The East-West pipeline carries crude from Saudi Arabia’s eastern oil-producing region to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, providing an alternative export route that avoids the Strait of Hormuz.