Saudi Oil Pipeline Fire under Control

A fire broke out at an oil pipeline 250 km (156 miles) north of the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, during repairs and is now under control, security sources said on Wednesday.

One security source said that the fire was "not the work of terrorists", and that state oil company Saudi Aramco would issue a statement later.

Brent oil prices rose by more than a dollar as rumours first circulated on social media, then settled back to their previous level.

Speaking by telephone from Riyadh, the source said a contractor was trying to fix the pipeline and "it broke".

Another security source said the incident took place in Sudair, north of the capital, and was due to a technical problem.

Front-month Brent futures were trading around $83.30 by 1655 GMT, up 48 cents on the day.

(By Rania El Gamal; Additional reporting by Amena Bakr in Doha; Writing by Sam Wilkin and Christopher Johnson; Editing by Michael Urquhart)