Saudi Arabia Restarts East-West Oil Pipeline
Saudi Arabia has restarted at least limited flows through its East-West oil pipeline, the 4-million-barrel-per-day route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz. The state oil company Aramco is working to restore flows to roughly 4 million bpd, but sources say a full restart could still take weeks.
Why It Matters
The pipeline provides Saudi Arabia a major export route that avoids Hormuz, so its partial reopening eases some supply constraints and briefly weighed on oil prices. Markets remain fragile because flows are below normal, Hormuz traffic is constrained, and regional refinery disruptions have tightened diesel supplies.
Key Facts
- Pipeline capacity: 4 million barrels per day
- Current operation: Running at a low rate; Aramco aiming to return flows to roughly 4 million bpd
- Full restart timeline: Could still take weeks, according to Reuters sources
- Scheduled cargo: One cargo scheduled to load at Yanbu Tuesday bound for China
- Price reaction: Brent briefly fell more than $2 to about $98 per barrel; WTI dipped below $92
Saudi Arabia has put the East-West oil pipeline back into service at a reduced rate, restoring at least some flows through the 4-million-barrel-per-day route that transports crude from the Gulf to the Red Sea. Reuters sources cited by industry reports say state oil firm Aramco is attempting to ramp shipments back toward the pipeline’s roughly 4 million bpd capacity, but a full reinstatement of normal throughput could take several weeks.
One cargo was listed to load at the Red Sea port of Yanbu on Tuesday destined for China, and traders began repositioning tonnage in expectation of more Saudi barrels reaching Mediterranean and Asian markets. Reuters sources said tankers are already being moved toward Egypt’s Port Said and Sidi Kerir to prepare for ship-to-ship transfers as Saudi flows resume through SUMED and into the Mediterranean.
The restart followed an outage earlier this month after drone attacks forced the pipeline to shut. While the line had been rerouting about 4 million bpd across Saudi Arabia prior to that disruption, Aramco had pushed additional crude back toward the Persian Gulf and arranged sales for movement through the Strait of Hormuz and via ship-to-ship transfers near Oman during the outage. The interruption also led Aramco to inform some European term customers that October allocations would be zero because supplies to the Mediterranean were disrupted.
Markets reacted quickly to the partial reopening: Brent briefly fell by more than $2 per barrel to around $98 and WTI declined below $92 before edging higher later in the session. Despite the restart, analysts and traders say the physical oil market still faces significant damage to unwind — Saudi pipeline flows remain below normal, transit through Hormuz is constrained, and diesel markets are tight after refinery disruptions in Russia and the Middle East. The Saudi move came as Iran proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eased military pressure and lifted its blockade of Iranian ports.