Saudi Arabia Restarts East‑West Pipeline, Shipping 3.5 M bpd and Reviving Yanbu Loadings

Saudi Arabia's East-West crude pipeline has resumed oil exports , and Aramco is currently running it at a throughput of around 3.5 million barrels a day, according to sources . Bloomberg, citing a person with direct knowledge of operations, reported on September 28 that flows had reached that level. The line has a total capacity of about 7 million barrels a day, of which about 5 million is typically earmarked for exports and about 2 million goes to refineries on the kingdom's west coast.

The restart follows a shutdown on September 11, when a drone attack damaged three of the pipeline's eleven pumping stations. Before the attack the line was carrying around 4 million barrels a day to Yanbu, roughly 4% of global supply, according to Reuters, which reported on September 22 that a full recovery could take six to eight weeks. The 3.5 million barrel figure is therefore a ramp-up milestone rather than confirmation of full restoration. Saudi Arabia has also resumed oil loading at Yanbu, the pipeline's Red Sea terminus ; the first cargo reported after the restart was bound for China. Yanbu itself has faced Houthi attacks on energy infrastructure this month.

The price reaction has come in two phases. On the day the restart was first reported, Brent fell more than $2 a barrel toward $97, per Reuters. By September 29, however, oil was rising for a second straight session, with Brent up 0.6% to $105.91 and WTI up 0.8% to $93.32, as lingering concern over US-Iran supply disruption outweighed signs of recovering crude exports from the region. Reuters noted that much of the recent increase in Gulf export volumes still relies on workarounds such as ship-to-ship transfers.

What to watch: whether flows keep climbing toward the pre-attack level over the coming weeks, whether Yanbu loadings pick up in volume, and whether renewed attacks on Red Sea infrastructure interrupt the recovery. For energy equities and refiners, the pipeline's recovery matters less for headline prices right now than the wider US-Iran risk premium that is currently setting them.