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[Saudi Pipeline Attack Cuts Supply to Europe, Major Buyers Scramble for Alternatives, Spot Brent Crude Soars Above $120] 1. Trade sources revealed that Saudi Arabia has cut crude oil supplies to Europe due to a drone attack damaging a key export pipeline to the Red Sea, prompting major customers such as Poland to urgently seek alternative sources, pushing spot crude oil prices above $120 per barrel. Saudi Arabia blamed the attack on Iraqi militias, which forced the country to shut down the east-west trans-desert pipeline last Friday. This pipeline has helped Saudi Arabia avoid the worst impacts of a strait blockade over the past six months. 2. Oil trading and shipping sources said on Tuesday that Saudi Aramco has notified European customers that some crude oil shipments scheduled for September loading will be cancelled, and crude oil loading operations at Yanbu port on the Red Sea have also been suspended. Saudi Aramco declined to comment. Trading sources said that the reduction in Saudi crude oil exports via the Red Sea will prompt Saudi Arabia to try so-called "covert transport" methods, similar to those used by the UAE and Iraq, to export more crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz. This type of transportation allows Gulf oil-producing countries to export 7 to 9 million barrels of crude oil per day, equivalent to 30% to 40% of pre-war export levels. 3. Supply disruptions support oil prices. Data from the London Stock Exchange Group shows that Brent crude futures are trading near a four-month high, currently around $107.5 per barrel, while physical crude prices in the European market are even higher, with the key benchmark spot Brent crude price at around $122 per barrel. Vortexa data shows that in the week of September 7-13, Saudi Arabia loaded 22 million barrels of crude oil onto 12 ships at the ports of Rastanura and Juaima, compared to only six to seven ships per week in the previous three weeks. 4. Five industry sources say that Polish integrated oil company Orlen is urgently seeking crude oil sources from the North Sea and other regions to replace disrupted Saudi crude oil imports. Saudi Aramco became Orlen's largest crude oil supplier in 2022 and currently supplies the company with approximately 40% of its crude oil. Sources say Orlen purchased several lots of crude oil through spot tenders last Friday and Monday, and is also seeking to buy US WTI Midland crude and Kazakhstan CPC blend crude. The company issued another tender on Tuesday, seeking to buy North Sea or Algerian crude for October delivery, and Guyana crude for November delivery, but the results are yet to be announced.