Saudi Pipeline Restarts, but Full Oil Flows May Take Weeks

Saudi Arabia has restarted its East-West oil pipeline at a low pumping rate, Reuters reported on September 22, citing three people briefed on the matter. Crude exports from Yanbu, the Red Sea port at the pipeline’s western end, could resume, but were not yet confirmed.

The pipeline was shut on September 13 after drone attacks halted crude loadings at Yanbu. The 1,200-kilometer route links eastern Saudi oil fields to the Red Sea, giving the kingdom an export path that avoids the Strait of Hormuz.

Before the shutdown, Saudi Arabia had been routing about 4 million barrels a day through the line, roughly 4% of global supply, Reuters reported. That earlier flow shows the scale of supply at stake, but does not mean the pipeline is now close to that rate.

A security source told Reuters that reaching 40% of capacity could take a couple of days, while a full restart may take six to eight weeks. The gradual recovery means the restart alone will not quickly restore the volumes that had moved through Yanbu.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday as traders weighed the restart alongside signs of more Gulf exports. Brent briefly dropped below $98 a barrel and was quoted at $97.81; U.S. benchmark WTI traded at $89.50, according to The National.

Saudi Arabia had also loaded seven supertankers with capacity for 14 million barrels at Gulf terminals over the weekend, The National reported. Those cargoes signaled that some exports were moving through the Gulf, even as the pipeline remained offline.

The next test is whether Yanbu resumes loading and pipeline flows rise without another disruption. Traders will also be watching for progress toward the staged repair targets, since a low-rate restart offers less relief than a return to normal shipments.