Pipeline resumes operations 10 days after Iraq-launched drone attack, initially at reduced flow

State-owned Aramco targets 4 million barrels per day, about 4% of global supply

Key bypass route around blocked Strait of Hormuz; first tanker bound for China set to load

A satellite image captures damage to Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline in the Hejaz region on Sept. 11 (local time) after a Houthi rebel attack. Black smoke rises from the pipeline. [Reuters]
A satellite image captures damage to Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline in the Hejaz region on Sept. 11 (local time) after a Houthi rebel attack. Black smoke rises from the pipeline. [Reuters]

Saudi Arabia has restarted the East-West Pipeline, a critical oil transport artery shut down after a drone strike, paving the way for crude exports through the Red Sea port of Yanbu to resume in the coming days.

Reuters, citing multiple well-placed sources, reported Tuesday (local time) that Saudi authorities had recently restarted the pipeline and that crude loading operations at Yanbu could resume as early as later that day.

According to the sources, the pipeline is currently transporting crude at a reduced flow rate following its restart. Saudi state oil company Aramco has set a target of gradually ramping up flow and capacity to reach 4 million barrels per day, though the timeline for reaching that target remains uncertain.

Saudi Arabia had shut down the pipeline entirely for safety reasons after a drone strike launched from Iraq damaged part of it on Sept. 11. The shutdown halted crude exports from the pipeline's terminal at Yanbu and disrupted oil supply to nearby Aramco refining facilities for more than 10 days.

"The restart of the pipeline has resumed crude supply to Red Sea coast refining facilities," a source said, adding that an oil tanker bound for China was scheduled to begin its first loading at Yanbu later that day.

For Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, the East-West Pipeline is in effect the only above-ground lifeline capable of bypassing the blocked Strait of Hormuz. With passage through the strait cut off following armed conflict with Iran, Saudi Arabia has been routing 4 million barrels per day — roughly 4% of global crude supply — through the pipeline from its eastern oil fields to Yanbu on the western Red Sea coast for export.


silverpaper@heraldcorp.com