Saudi pipeline flows climb above 80% capacity

Saudi Arabia has lifted crude flows through its East-West Pipeline to nearly 6 million barrels a day, restoring more than 80% of the strategic route’s capacity and sharply increasing oil available for export from the Red Sea coast.

The 7 million-barrel-a-day conduit, operated by Saudi Aramco, is now carrying volumes close to levels reached during the Iran war, after running at roughly half capacity earlier this week. About 4.5 million barrels a day can be made available for export after crude is supplied to refineries on the kingdom’s west coast.

The rapid increase marks a significant recovery for a route that was shut as a precaution after multiple drone attacks on September 10 struck sections in the Riyadh and Madinah regions. Saudi authorities said the drones originated in Iraq and that the attacks caused injuries and damage. Operations restarted on September 22.

Yanbu, the pipeline’s Red Sea outlet, has consequently regained a central role in Saudi export logistics. Crude and refined-product loadings resumed there this week after Aramco notified customers of October loading schedules. Tankers were observed loading close to 10 million barrels at Yanbu and the nearby Al Muajjiz terminal as shipments restarted.

The pipeline carries crude from production centres in eastern Saudi Arabia across roughly 1,200 kilometres to the Red Sea, allowing barrels to reach international markets without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. That bypass has become especially important during the conflict with Iran, which severely disrupted traffic through the waterway earlier this year and forced Gulf producers to develop alternative shipping arrangements.

Saudi Arabia’s ability to raise Petroline throughput has improved alongside a broader recovery in regional crude movements. Middle Eastern exports rose to about 16.3 million barrels a day in September, their highest level since the conflict began in February, according to tanker-tracking estimates. The total remained below the roughly 19.5 million barrels a day recorded before the war.

Saudi crude exports were a major contributor to that rebound, climbing from about 2.45 million barrels a day in August to roughly 5.4 million in September. Higher shipments from Gulf terminals as well as the restoration of the Red Sea route have given Aramco greater flexibility to serve customers despite continuing security risks around key maritime corridors.

The latest pipeline rate represents a particularly steep acceleration from the immediate post-restart period. Throughput was estimated at about 2 million to 2.65 million barrels a day after operations resumed, with expectations that flows would initially rise towards 3 million to 4 million barrels a day. The increase to nearly 6 million indicates that repairs and operational restoration have progressed faster than those early estimates suggested.

The recovery also rebuilds inventories and loading flexibility at Yanbu after the interruption constrained supplies to the coast. Before the shutdown, the corridor had become one of the kingdom’s principal tools for sustaining deliveries while tanker operators faced heightened risks and higher costs on Gulf routes.

The East-West system had already demonstrated its strategic importance earlier in the conflict. Saudi Arabia diverted large volumes towards Yanbu as Hormuz traffic contracted, while the United States Energy Information Administration said Saudi crude had been rerouted through the pipeline to the Red Sea. The alternative, however, does not remove all shipping risks because cargoes leaving Yanbu may still encounter security concerns around the Bab el-Mandeb strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.

Those vulnerabilities became more pronounced after the September attacks forced the pipeline offline. Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said emergency and specialised technical teams moved immediately to secure the line and assess its integrity under established safety and emergency procedures.

The restored flow also coincides with improving traffic through Hormuz. Regional exporters have increasingly combined pipeline bypasses, Gulf terminal shipments and other logistical arrangements rather than relying on a single route. That flexibility has helped restore physical crude movements even as the security environment remains unsettled.