Saudi Arabia Reroutes Oil Exports as Houthi Strikes Target Yanbu

Satellite data compiled from the European Union’s Sentinel-2 system and reported by Bloomberg show an accumulation of large crude carriers at Saudi Arabia’s Persian Gulf export terminals over a recent weekend, equivalent to about 14 million barrels of capacity. Analysts and banks say the build-up is related to rerouted flows after strike damage to the kingdom’s East-West pipeline, prompting Saudi operators to move more crude through Gulf terminals and the Strait of Hormuz.

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, however, has dropped significantly. Data cited by Reuters from ship-tracking firm Kpler indicated only a dozen commodity vessels crossed the strait over the weekend, down from 35 the prior week; on one reported day just four tankers transited against a 10-day moving average of 16. JPMorgan flagged that Saudi Arabia moved roughly 2.9 million barrels per day through the strait in the six days leading up to its note, describing the kingdom’s reallocation of exports as a major pivot among Gulf producers.

The logistical disruption stems from a Sept. 11 drone strike attributed to actors in Iraq that forced a shutdown of the East-West pipeline—also called Petroline—which normally carries up to about 7 million barrels a day from Eastern Province fields to the Red Sea terminal at Yanbu. Observers estimate 4–5 million barrels a day of that capacity were taken offline, and Saudi crude loadings plunged from roughly 7.5 million bpd in January–February to about 2.1 million bpd by mid-September. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sept. 15 the pipeline would resume within days, but at least one industry analyst told Al-Monitor that damaged pump stations could delay full restoration by six weeks or longer.

Security concerns have persisted. Yemen’s Houthi movement said it launched missile and drone strikes on Sept. 18–19 targeting Riyadh and Aramco facilities at Yanbu; Saudi authorities confirmed the port at Yanbu, where the East-West pipeline terminates, was struck and reported no casualties or damage, with a missile toward Riyadh intercepted. To work around the Red Sea disruption and avoid single‑route exposure, Aramco has been routing crude from Ras Tanura on the Persian Gulf, shipping it on smaller vessels to the Gulf of Oman for transfer to larger tankers. The company is using that route to move about 60 million barrels loaded at Ras Tanura for September and October deliveries, mainly to Chinese and South Korean refiners. Brent and WTI futures both slipped in early U.S. trading following the developments.