PARIS – France is examining options to help protect Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu oil terminal and the East-West pipeline that carries crude to the Red Sea, as Houthi attacks and threats against the kingdom’s airports and energy infrastructure raise concerns over the security of its oil exports.
France is willing to contribute to protecting Saudi energy infrastructure in a “strictly defensive” capacity, the French foreign ministry said on Thursday, stressing Paris’s solidarity with Riyadh as the regional conflict threatens critical facilities and transport routes.
“We assure Saudi Arabia of our full solidarity in the face of these attacks,” a ministry spokesperson said.
The statement came as General Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces Fabien Mandon said Paris and Riyadh were examining several military options to protect Yanbu, a key outlet for Saudi crude exports on the Red Sea.
“It’s at the study phase at the moment with Saudi Arabia. We are examining different options to protect the Yanbu terminal, which has been attacked and is essential for hydrocarbon trade,” Mandon told a parliamentary hearing on Thursday.
The comments suggest that the precise form of France’s military contribution has yet to be settled, despite President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement on September 24 that Paris would send personnel, radars and defensive systems to protect the facility.
Macron presented the proposed deployment as a means of safeguarding strategic energy infrastructure rather than drawing France into the wider regional conflict. French officials have since emphasised the defensive nature of any contribution, while leaving open which military assets could be deployed and when.
Mandon said France had already deployed around 2,000 troops in the region to help protect Gulf allies, including Qatar and Kuwait. He did not say whether any of those personnel would be assigned to Yanbu or provide details of a planned deployment.
The urgency of the discussions has grown following a series of Houthi attacks and threats against Saudi targets. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis warned airlines on Monday that Saudi airspace could become a “theatre of military operations”, while saying they were targeting airports and oil facilities with drones and missiles.
Saudi Arabia reported three deaths on Wednesday in attacks targeting its airports, including one in Riyadh. The strikes have added to concerns about the potential for the conflict to threaten both civilian aviation and the infrastructure supporting the kingdom’s economy.
A French foreign ministry spokesperson condemned the Houthi attacks and said they must stop, particularly the latest strikes against Saudi targets. The spokesperson also confirmed France’s willingness to help protect energy infrastructure, specifically naming Yanbu and the East-West pipeline.
The pipeline is central to Saudi Arabia’s efforts to maintain oil exports when shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted. It carries crude from the kingdom’s eastern oil-producing region to the Red Sea coast, allowing exports to bypass the narrow waterway at the entrance to the Gulf.
Yanbu has consequently assumed greater importance as an alternative outlet for Saudi crude. But the route is not immune to attack: missile threats originating from Yemen have raised concerns over the security of oil shipments from the port, with potential consequences for global energy supplies and prices.
The challenge for France is to help protect the infrastructure without becoming directly involved in the wider conflict. Possible defensive measures could include radar systems to detect incoming threats and systems to intercept missiles or drones. Macron has also raised the possibility of using Rafale fighter jets if required, although no decision on their deployment has been publicly confirmed.
Any French military presence would also raise questions about the mission’s duration, rules of engagement and the circumstances in which French forces could respond if attacked. A written question submitted to the French Senate on October 1 asked the government to clarify the nature of the proposed deployment and whether it would require parliamentary notification under Article 35 of the French Constitution.
The government had not published a response to the question in the Senate’s latest update on October 2.
France’s approach to Saudi energy security forms part of a wider effort to support maritime traffic and uphold international law as the conflict disrupts regional trade routes.
On the Strait of Hormuz, the foreign ministry said the international community shared an interest in restoring normal shipping and ensuring respect for international law.
“We, the international community, have a collective interest in strictly upholding international law […] to restore the flow of maritime traffic along the Strait of Hormuz,” the spokesperson said.
France is also participating in the European Union’s Aspides maritime security operation, launched in February 2024, the spokesperson said. The operation aims to help safeguard maritime security in the region. The spokesperson declined to identify the French military assets involved but said Paris would continue supporting the mission and any possible changes to it in response to regional security conditions.
For Saudi Arabia, the protection of Yanbu is increasingly important as it seeks to preserve an alternative route for oil exports amid disruption to shipping through Hormuz. For France, the challenge is to provide meaningful support to a Gulf ally while keeping its military role defensive and limiting the risk of being drawn into a broader confrontation.