A Saudi oil pipeline was attacked by drones, causing “limited damage,” the Saudi energy minister said on Tuesday, only one day after Saudi Arabia said two of its oil tankers had been sabotaged. This latest development is ratcheting up tensions in the already troubled region.

Two oil pumping stations for the East-West pipeline had been hit by explosive-laden drones.

Falih condemned the attacks in a statment saying: "The latest acts of terrorism and sabotage in the Arabian Gulf... not only target the Kingdom but also the security of oil supplies to the world and the global economy."

The announcement came shortly after Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed to have carried out an attack with seven drones that “targeted vital Saudi facilities.”

Falih said Saudi oil output and exports for crude and refined products were continuing without disruption, but that the state oil giant Aramco had halted oil pumping in the pipeline while the damage was evaluated and the stations were repaired, according to a statement carried by the state news agency SPA.

The 1,200-kilometre pipeline carries crude from Saudi Arabia's main eastern oil fields to the Red Sea port city of Yanbu in the west.