First Thing: Oil prices surge as attacks on Saudi Arabia stoke supply fears

Strike on kingdom’s east-west pipeline could affect 4% of global oil supply. Plus, report reveals British monarchy’s role in financing slave tradeDon’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning. Oil prices have climbed above $108 a barrel after a series of drone attacks from Iraq’s territory forced Saudi Arabia to close its east-west crude pipeline. Saudi traders said the kingdom would run out of oil stocks for export if it did not reopen within days. Gas prices also climbed higher. Energy prices have surged this year, as the US-Israel war with Iran has disrupted oil and gas supply across the Middle East.The spike came as the Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen launched several attacks against Saudi Arabia and captured the strategic island of Perim in the Bab al-Manda