Saudi Arabia Restarts East-West Pipeline and Resumes Crude Exports, Oil Prices Drop Over USD 2
Saudi Arabia restarted its East-West Pipeline on Tuesday following a September 13 shutdown caused by drone strikes, paving the way to resume crude exports from Yanbu. Brent crude dropped over USD 2 a barrel on the news. The link bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, moving up to 4 million bpd, with domestic refineries supplied and a cargo preparing to load for China.
Saudi Arabia has restarted operations at its East-West Pipeline and could resume exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu later on Tuesday, September 22, three sources briefed on the matter said. Drone attacks forced Saudi Arabia to shut its East-West Pipeline on September 13, halting crude loadings at the kingdom's Yanbu port.
The resumption of supplies on Tuesday helped to drive selling on global oil markets, traders said. Brent crude futures fell by more than USD 2 a barrel to its lowest since September 8, reflecting immediate market relief over restoring an essential bypass around contested maritime chokepoints. Saudi Oil Shock for Europe: Aramco to Halt Crude Deliveries After Key Pipeline Attack.
Saudi Arabia Restarts East-West Pipeline and Resumes Crude Exports
Since disruption to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Israeli war on Iran, OPEC's leading oil exporter has been using the pipeline to reroute around 4 million barrels per day, around 4% of global supply, to Yanbu.
The artery allows the kingdom to transport crude across its landmass directly to the Red Sea, bypassing the narrow Strait of Hormuz where tanker traffic has faced sustained military vulnerability. Houthis Claim Strikes on Saudi Crude Oil Infrastructure After Drone Attack in Al-Jawf Governorate.
Pumping Resumes at Low Rate Toward 4 Million Bpd Target
The pipeline was pumping at a low rate after its restart, two of the sources said. State oil firm Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One of the sources said Aramco was seeking to get the pumping rate back to 4 million bpd, while a security source said full resumption could take weeks. Technical teams continue to evaluate pipeline pressure and integrity following the outage.
The pipeline will resume crude supply to Aramco refineries located on the Red Sea coast, one of the sources said, adding that one cargo was scheduled to load at Yanbu later on Tuesday. The person said it would be bound for China.
Downstream logistics are also realigning to support higher throughput. Another two trading sources said traders were getting ready for Saudi oil loadings by moving tankers to Egypt's Mediterranean Port Said for ship-to-ship transfers and also to Sidi Kerir.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 22, 2026 06:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).