Saudi Arabia has restored substantial crude flows through its strategic East-West Pipeline following repairs from September drone attacks, reopening a vital export route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Saudi Arabia has resumed significant crude oil exports through its East-West Pipeline after repairing damage caused by drone attacks earlier this month, restoring a crucial route that allows the kingdom to move millions of barrels of oil per day to the Red Sea without relying on the Strait of Hormuz.
Flows through the 750-mile pipeline have recovered to at least 3.5 million barrels per day, according to people familiar with operations cited in a Bloomberg report Monday.
That volume represents approximately half of the pipeline’s maximum capacity of 7 million barrels per day and marks a substantial recovery after the line was damaged and temporarily shut down following multiple attacks on Sept. 10.
Known as Petroline, the East-West Pipeline carries crude from Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq processing complex in the oil-producing Eastern Province across the country to Yanbu on the Red Sea coast.
Its geographic position gives Saudi Arabia an alternative path for crude exports when shipments through the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz are disrupted or considered too risky.
Of the pipeline’s 7 million-barrel-per-day capacity, approximately 2 million barrels can be directed to Saudi refineries along the country’s western coast. The remaining capacity can support crude exports through Yanbu.
That capability has taken on increased importance since the war with Iran disrupted shipping through Gulf waters.
Before the September attacks, Saudi Arabia had been sending roughly 4 million barrels of crude per day toward Yanbu through the pipeline, according to previous Reuters reporting. That amount was equivalent to about 4% of global oil supply.
The Saudi Energy Ministry said Petroline was hit in multiple attacks on Sept. 10 and subsequently closed as a precaution while officials assessed the damage and conducted repairs.
Saudi authorities said the drones involved in the attacks originated in Iraq and blamed Iraqi militias.
Satellite imagery and oil industry sources subsequently indicated that three of the pipeline’s 11 pumping stations had been damaged.
The system began returning gradually rather than immediately resuming normal operations.
Reuters reported Sept. 22 that crude had begun moving through Petroline again at a relatively low rate. Two days later, tanker loadings from Yanbu had still not resumed, indicating that restoration of pipeline flows had not yet translated into a return to normal export operations at the Red Sea terminal.
The latest increase to at least 3.5 million barrels per day represents a significant step toward restoring the Saudi export network that existed before the attacks.
During the shutdown, Saudi Aramco redirected additional oil toward terminals on the Persian Gulf, requiring more crude to leave the kingdom through the Strait of Hormuz.
That shift reduced one of Saudi Arabia’s most important options for avoiding the narrow waterway during a period of heightened regional conflict.
The disruption also affected customers outside the Middle East.
Aramco informed some European buyers that they would receive no Saudi crude under October term contracts because the damaged pipeline interrupted supplies normally shipped from Yanbu and then transported toward Mediterranean markets through Egypt’s SUMED pipeline.
Petroline therefore serves more than Saudi Arabia’s domestic refining system or Red Sea tanker traffic. It forms part of an international supply chain connecting Saudi production to European markets while allowing those barrels to avoid the Persian Gulf export route.
Saudi Arabia’s ability to move oil westward has long provided the kingdom with strategic flexibility during disruptions affecting Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy shipping passages.
When Petroline was unavailable this month, more Saudi crude had to move east through Gulf terminals instead, increasing dependence on the very shipping corridor the East-West system was designed to bypass.
The restored flows do not yet indicate that the pipeline has returned to full operating capacity.
At approximately 3.5 million barrels per day, the current rate is below both Petroline’s 7 million-barrel maximum and the roughly 4 million barrels per day Saudi Arabia had been diverting toward Yanbu before the attacks.
Industry sources have estimated that complete repairs and a return to full capacity could require six to eight weeks.
That timetable means Saudi Arabia may continue operating with reduced flexibility in its crude-export network while repairs proceed.
The pipeline’s gradual return nevertheless restores a major portion of the kingdom’s ability to send oil toward the Red Sea at a time when shipping through the Persian Gulf remains vulnerable to regional disruptions.
For global energy markets, Petroline’s recovery also restores an important alternative outlet for a volume of crude large enough to represent several percentage points of worldwide oil supply.
Saudi Arabia can now once again move at least 3.5 million barrels per day across the kingdom toward Yanbu, reducing its dependence on Gulf terminals while repairs continue on the infrastructure damaged in the Sept. 10 attacks.
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