The pipeline that reaches the coast of the Red Sea carries the equivalent of seven million barrels per day. If the Houthis were to strike it, with Hormuz closed it would be a real disaster. Meanwhile, no one can do without Russian sources anymore
France will send troops and defense systems to Saudi Arabia. The mission will serve to strengthen the protection of the town of Yanbu, a port city on the Red Sea and an important port for the transport of hydrocarbons. The initiative was announced on September 24 but confirmed only this morning by the French president Emmanuel Macronwho underlined that a possible US ban on diesel exports, i.e. the hypothesis that the White House has denied it is considering, would have a catastrophic impact both on a global level and for the economy of the United States itself.
The French military intervention
During a prime time television interview with broadcasters TF1 and France 2, the French president said: «We will send military resources, that is, soldiers, radar and defense systems to protect this port. Not to get involved in conflicts, but to protect the site itself.”
During the broadcast, dedicated to the international situation, Macron he also explained the situation and recalled that he had recommended maximum alert against possible Russian attacks on French soil.
Certainly his was a way to deal with the growing internal pressures due to high energy prices, reassuring the French on the availability of adequate gas and oil supplies in view of the winter and stating that Paris is actively working to guarantee the continuity of supply flows.
The strategic importance of Yanbu
Yanbu is located halfway along the eastern coast of the Red Sea, on Saudi soil, at a distance of approximately 110km from Medina. The terminal of the Petroline East-West oil pipeline is located in Yanbu, a 1,200 kilometer long line that starts from the Gulf fields and reaches the Red Sea coast, transporting the equivalent of seven million barrels per day. And it is obvious that with the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz this facility constitutes the only way to transport Saudi oil; but also that hitting this infrastructure means paralyzing supplies. The region is therefore exposed to missile attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels from the Ansar Allah group, supported by Iran.
The commercial aspect for the sale of arms should also not be underestimated: For aviation, Saudi Arabia is not yet a client of Paris: it has US Boeing F-15 aircraft and European Eurofighters, but not the Dassault Rafales.
The Russian question after (the strange) attack in Leipzig
Regarding the Russian threat instead, Macron denied the news reported by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo according to which the US Secret Services would have warned European governments of the risk of potential drone attacks coming from the Mediterranean. “I can refute that,” he said Macron«the CIA did not inform the French services or those of other nations».
However, the resident of the Elysée underlined how Moscow is multiplying hostile and criminal acts against European countries and how France could suffer attacks similar to the one foiled in Leipzig. Moreover, albeit only with circumstantial evidence, Germany attributed responsibility to Russia for an attempted drone attack which occurred in August against the airport of the town in Saxony.
Last week, Macron had gathered the leaders of the French parties in Paris to inform them about the growing Russian threat. He later said he had instructed the government to come up with a plan to protect critical infrastructure from cyber and drone attacks. According to him, Moscow is trying to intimidate Europe by weakening the Union’s determination to support Ukraine.
European dependence on Moscow
Naturally, the Kremlin calls the European accusations of conducting hybrid attacks unfounded, attributing anti-Russian hysteria to Brussels. It is true that the position of Macron towards Russia has weakened: last week France obtained exemption from EU sanctions for the Russian-Uzbek metals magnate Alisher Usmanovciting national security reasons. This move prompted Azerbaijan to pardon a French citizen accused and imprisoned for espionage.
What is emerging more and more clearly, four years after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, is that the nations of the European Union not only depend on Moscow for oil and gas supplies, but also for a significant share of metal resources which are strategic especially for defense.
World energy hubs
To date, the main suppliers of natural gas in France (in liquid form and therefore transportable on ships and in gaseous form, through gas pipelines) are the United States for 38% of the total; Russia, Algeria and Norway.
Certainly the Strait of Hormuz crisis is destined to change the sanctions against Russia: with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, oil Vladimir Putin has become an even more important resource and the efforts of the G7 countries to limit Russia’s revenues and harm it in the military operation in Ukraine have been increasingly ineffective since last spring, when around 30% of all Russian crude exports were loaded on Western tankers and, in particular, Greek-owned ones bound for almost all the countries of the Union.
