The move comes after a drone attack disrupted the kingdom’s key East-West oil pipeline amid escalating regional tensions.

Analysts warn oil prices could rally sharply if the pipeline remains offline beyond an estimated five-to-seven-day inventory cushion.

Saudi Aramco loaded about 14 million barrels of crude oil on seven supertankers inside the Mideast Gulf on Sunday, data from TankerTrackers.com ​showed, as the kingdom increased loadings from Gulf export terminals after an attack disrupted ​shipments via its east-west pipeline to the Red Sea.

Andy Burnham last night revealed he has approved a request from Riyadh for military help in fending off attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen, which are pushing up global oil prices.

Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, meanwhile, carried out renewed strikes on Saudi Arabia this week.

Saudi Arabia faces the biggest threat to its oil production since 1932 as Houthis launch attacks near the Red Sea's Bab el-Mandeb Strait, an expert says.

Saudi Arabia built the East-West Pipeline during the Iran-Iraq War to reduce its exposure to a single chokepoint, serving as an alternative route to the

Crude oil price retreated last week, even as the crisis in the Middle East escalated. This escalation accelerated during the weekend as Ansar Allah, popularly known as Houthis, launched major attacks against Saudi Arabia. They attacked oil depots near Riyadh Airport in retaliation for Saudi’s attacks against Sanaa.