As of Tuesday morning, Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline has transferred 5.8 million barrels of crude oil. This action was announced by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and was aimed at strengthening the Red Sea export route following disruptions caused by the Iran war.
Pipeline Performance Details
The East-West pipeline transports crude oil through Saudi Arabia to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. Previously, the pipeline's daily transfer capacity averaged about 4 million barrels, which had decreased due to disruptions caused by the Iran war in the Strait of Hormuz. Drone attacks last September halted the pipeline's operations and stopped oil loading in Yanbu.
Revival of Saudi Oil Exports
Aramco restarted this pipeline on September 22 at reduced rates, and oil loading from Yanbu has resumed since then. Saudi Arabia needs this route; estimates indicate that Saudi crude oil exports in September reached nearly 6.9 million barrels per day, up from 2.45 million barrels per day in August. A significant portion of this increase was due to flows from the East-West pipeline and increased tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz.
Estimates also indicate that oil and condensate exports from the Gulf, excluding Iran, reached about 16.5 million barrels per day in September, nearing pre-war levels. Only about 60 percent of these barrels passed through the Strait of Hormuz, down from 83 percent before the war. The rest were transported via bypass pipelines, alternative ports, and a complex network of ship-to-ship transfers.
Shipping and war risk insurance rates remain high, and tanker usage is under pressure, causing some voyages to take longer. The port of Yanbu also faces its own security challenges, as the Houthis have made threats against Saudi-related shipping in the Red Sea and claimed to have attacked an Aramco facility in Riyadh last weekend. Saudi officials denied this claim and stated that the flows from the East-West pipeline have not been disrupted.
