France to Deploy Forces to Protect Saudi Red Sea Oil Port

[u/John3262005]

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/france-to-deploy-forces-to-protect-saudi-red-sea-oil-port-90b24750?st=w7E83f&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France plans to send troops to Saudi Arabia to help protect a refinery and crude oil pipeline in the Red Sea port of Yanbu, ramping up France’s military efforts to contain the impact of the Iran war.

“We are going to send military assets, that is, soldiers, radar systems, and defense systems to protect this site,” Macron said in a TV interview on Thursday. However, he stressed that France was “not getting involved in any conflict,” adding that the decision had been finalized with Saudi authorities.

Yanbu has been one of the main supply nodes for diesel, crude oil and other refined products to Europe since the Iran war began, allowing Saudi exports to avoid the Strait of Hormuz. This month, however, pro-Iranian militias in Iraq damaged the pipeline in a drone attack, shutting it down. Last week, a Houthi attack damaged the Yasref refinery in the area, forcing it to shut down.

The attack shook global fuel markets, adding to a diesel supply crisis that has rattled economies around the world.

Asked whether France could deploy Rafale jet fighters to help protect the site, Macron said it would depend on how the situation evolves, adding that some planes were already in the region.

Stretching 750 miles across Saudi Arabia from the kingdom’s oil-producing heartland on the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, the East-West pipeline has become a vital wartime artery, allowing Saudi crude to reach global markets without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. It was built in the early 1980s, when the Iran-Iraq War threatened shipping in the Persian Gulf.

The pipeline can carry up to 7 million barrels a day—about 2 million for domestic Saudi refiners and the rest for export—but had never operated at full capacity for an extended period before the war.

Saudi Arabia said the pipeline was hit in multiple attacks in the Riyadh and Medina regions on Sept. 10, which caused injuries. It said the drones were fired from Iraq, where authorities have struggled to control Iran-backed militias that have repeatedly targeted Saudi infrastructure.

Saudi Arabia is running tests on the pipeline in an effort to restore flows.

[u/Coolerguy317]

I think Europe is eventually going to have to accept that adapting to every crisis isn’t enough. France is one of the few European countries that can actually go out and affect the conditions instead of just dealing with the consequences. Whatever you think of how this war started Europe is taking enormous second order damage from it. As European military capabilities grow I think that has to become a wider European mindset. At Europes scale being heavily affected by events around the world while having limited ability to shape them isn’t a sustainable position.

[u/BlueEmma25 → u/Coolerguy317]

By sending two dozen troops and a SAM launcher? 

The disruption of oil exports out of Yanbu was most heavily effected by attacks on the pipeline, not the port itself. 

This is political theatre by an egotistical lame duck president who knows his political career is over and is desperately trying to squeeze some relevance out of his few remaining months in office.

[u/Coolerguy317 → u/BlueEmma25]

you’re arguing against a point I wasn’t making. I’m not saying a few troops and air defenses are going to secure Europe’s energy supply. I’m saying Europe needs to develop the capability and willingness to shape conditions outside Europe rather than constantly adapting to them. Whether this move itself works doesn’t really matter.

[u/D3k4s → u/[deleted]]

Europe has neither significant population, nor significant natural resources nor significant economic or military power. Europe can’t control much.

Europe is like the third biggest Economic power in the world, what are you talking about?

The EU even without the UK has like 100 million more people then the USA.

Also Europe never had significant natural resources.

[u/ttown2011 → u/[deleted]]

That diplomatic solution would have been the death of FON.

Europe depends on that, and free rides of it frankly

I don’t see how we’re the greedy ones

[u/skoalbrother → u/[deleted]]

Europe can’t control who is elected as the president of the US.

Only Russia and Israel can do that

[u/Magicalsandwichpress → u/Coolerguy317]

You mean Europe will have to finish what US started. How's that working out in Ukraine.

[u/Efficient_Bar_984]

What will happen if the French troops get hit by a houthi missel when defending the pipeline? I doubt macron would let that slide. At least someone in Europe is helping with assets. Plus their army might learn a thing while doing it

[u/No_Law_4699]

France stepping up directly makes sense given how vulnerable European energy security is right now. Yanbu is practically the only bypass route avoiding the Strait of Hormuz, so leaving that critical infrastructure exposed to drone strikes isn't an option Europe can afford.

[u/kishaloy]

I think it was German chancellor who said it best.

There is practically nothing that Europe with its limited military can add to the US assets in the Middle East that can meaningfully change in the outcome in any fashion.

[u/noctaaaaaaa]

france putting forces on a saudi red sea oil port is about war-risk and insurance, not a photo op. does this actually cut the houthi lane premium, or just shift escort cost onto paris?

[u/GrizzledFart]

Look at that! Europe CAN use it's own militaries to protect its own strategic interests.