Saudi Arabia Restarts Red Sea Crude Oil Loadings
Saudi Arabia has resumed crude loadings at its Red Sea terminals, including Yanbu and the nearby Al Muajjiz facility, after the East-West pipeline returned to partial service, Reuters reported citing vessel-tracking data and trade sources. The pipeline had been shut for two weeks following drone attacks on September 10 that damaged pumping stations; full restoration of its roughly 4 million barrels per day (bpd) capacity is expected to take weeks.
Why It Matters
Restarting Red Sea loadings restores export routes that allow Saudi crude to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, easing a regional supply squeeze and increasing shipments available to global markets. The recovery remains partial, however, and faces risks from continued Houthi threats to shipping in the Red Sea.
Key Facts
- Incident: East-West pipeline shut for two weeks after drone attacks on September 10 damaged pumping stations.
- Partial resumption: Pipeline resumed partial service last Thursday; full resumption of about 4 million bpd would likely take weeks.
- Yanbu loading rate: Crude loadings at Yanbu have been around 2 million bpd since last week (trade sources).
- Satellite observation: TankerTrackers.com said satellite imagery showed nearly 10 million barrels of crude at Yanbu and Al Muajjiz.
- Vessels observed: TankerTrackers reported visually identifying 40 tankers near the terminals.
Saudi Arabia has restarted crude oil loadings at its Red Sea terminals after the East-West onshore pipeline, which bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, returned to partial service, Reuters reported citing vessel-tracking data and trade sources. The pipeline had been taken offline for two weeks after drone strikes on September 10 damaged pumping stations. While some flows have resumed, officials and traders say it will take weeks before the pipeline approaches its full capacity of about 4 million barrels per day.
The resumption has already translated into activity at the Yanbu port and the nearby Al Muajjiz terminal, which have begun loading crude cargoes again. Trade sources estimated Yanbu loadings at roughly 2 million bpd since last week. Satellite images reviewed by TankerTrackers.com showed nearly 10 million barrels of crude at the two Red Sea terminals, and the vessel-tracking firm said it visually identified 40 tankers in the area.
Aramco informed customers late Monday of the planned loading schedule at Yanbu for October, an Asian refiner source told Reuters. The restart of Red Sea shipments comes alongside other measures Saudi Arabia used while the pipeline was down, including redirecting flows eastward and conducting ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman to maintain exports.
Market observers say the revival of loading activity outside the Strait of Hormuz should raise supplies available to world markets, though the return to normal volumes is gradual and subject to security risks. Kpler estimated that Middle East crude exports rebounded to about 12.8 million bpd in September as flows were rerouted during the outage. Continued threats from Houthi groups in the Red Sea, however, remain a potential impediment to unhindered shipments.