HSBC Warns Oil Market Could Face Temporary Deficit Due to Saudi Pipeline Outage
Oil prices rose after reports that Saudi Arabia's East-West crude pipeline will remain offline for three to five weeks following an attack. HSBC analysts, led by Kim Fustier, described the outage as a negative surprise and estimated it could create a temporary global oil deficit of around 6 million barrels per day between mid-September and mid-October. The bank noted that Saudi exports had already declined due to prior disruptions near Hormuz, with August output at about 3 million bpd. The pipeline shutdown is expected to remove approximately 90 million barrels from the market over one month—compared to global inventory draws of more than 500 million since February. HSBC also attributed rising refined-product prices primarily to Middle East disruptions rather than Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, as claimed by some U.S. officials. The bank raised its oil price outlook and suggested Brent crude could reach $120 per barrel under a 'Stalemate' scenario.
Tickers: $HSBC
Topics: global oil market HSBC analysis oil prices pipeline outage Saudi Arabia