Brent holds above $100 as Saudi East-West pipeline outage hits Hormuz bypass

Brent crude is still trading above $100 a barrel as of Sunday evening, September 13, 2026, after Saudi Arabia shut its East-West pipeline — a major route that had been helping move crude around the disrupted Strait of Hormuz. CNBC reported Brent at about $107.87 a barrel by 6:27 p.m. ET, following Friday’s ICE settle of $104.61.

Prices climb through — and past — $100

When this page first published on Labor Day, September 7, the CNBC/ICE Brent continuous contract showed a session high of $98.06 and a last price of $97.31 around 1:30 p.m. EDT. Those were intraday readings, not settlements, and the story framed crude as closing in on $100.

That threshold is now behind the market. Reuters reported Brent settled at $104.61 a barrel on Friday, September 11, down $3.02 on the day but still well clear of $100 after a week of Middle East shipping stress. On Sunday evening, CNBC said Brent was up about 3.1% to $107.87 a barrel by 6:27 p.m. ET, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate up about 2.8% to $102.87. Futures quotes move through the session; the Sunday figures are evening snapshots, not Friday’s settle.

Saudi East-West outage removes a Hormuz bypass

The fresh catalyst is the shutdown of Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline after drones launched from Iraq damaged the line. CNBC reported that Riyadh has not disclosed how badly the pipeline is damaged or how long it will stay closed. The artery can carry as much as 7 million barrels per day and runs from the kingdom’s Gulf producing regions to Red Sea export terminals at Yanbu — a route that had let Saudi crude avoid the Strait of Hormuz.

Reuters reported that the outage threatens the loss of up to about 4% of global oil supply if Yanbu stocks run down before the line restarts, and that repair timelines discussed by buyers and traders ranged from days of partial recovery to several weeks. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser had previously said the pipeline played a larger role in stabilizing markets during the Iran-war disruption than the U.S.-led strategic-reserve releases, according to CNBC’s account of the company’s August earnings call.

A diplomatic meeting between Iran and Gulf Arab states on Hormuz, planned for Monday in Oman, was postponed after the pipeline attack. Oman’s foreign minister said the Salalah meeting was deferred “in the interests of consensus,” while affirming a continued commitment to regional dialogue.

Hormuz shipping risk and the earlier carrier strikes

The broader shipping backdrop remains the war-related stress around Hormuz. This page’s original reporting covered U.S. Central Command’s September 5 account that it struck three Iranian crude carriers after IRGC ballistic-missile fire toward two U.S. Navy warships. CENTCOM said the U.S. ships were not hit and that no American personnel were harmed; it described permanently disabling M/T Downy and M/T Stark 1 and destroying the unladen M/T Kylo (also known as Noxen) after ordering the crew off. Those details are U.S. military claims.

CNBC separately reported that the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said another tanker came under attack on Sunday with a severe fire onboard, underscoring that Hormuz transit risk has not faded even as the East-West bypass itself is impaired. The duration of any wider interruption to deliveries remains uncertain.

Policy calendar after CPI, before the Fed

August consumer prices are no longer ahead on the calendar. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the August CPI on Friday, September 11: the CPI-U rose 0.4% seasonally adjusted in August and was up 3.4% over the prior 12 months. That print covers August and does not measure the latest September oil move, but it is the inflation checkpoint the Fed will have when it meets.

The Federal Open Market Committee meets September 15–16. Higher crude can keep energy-cost concerns elevated in the inflation outlook, but the price tape alone does not establish what the committee will decide. OPEC+ had already agreed on September 6 to keep October required production levels unchanged for Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman; that hold remains the last announced production-policy decision from those seven countries.

Sustained prices above $100 support producer revenue per barrel while pressuring fuel buyers if refined-product costs follow. Net earnings effects still depend on volumes, hedges, and pass-through — a Brent quote does not settle who comes out ahead.