Saudi Arabia has brought its East-West pipeline into full operation, sending 7 million barrels of oil a day through the route as it works to maintain supplies following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a person familiar with the matter said.The pipeline, which runs across the kingdom to the Red Sea, has become central to efforts to keep exports flowing. Oil shipments are now being rerouted to Yanbu, where tankers are loading crude for international markets, Bloomberg reports, offering a vital alternative at a time when the main route has been disrupted.
Crude oil shipments from Yanbu have reached nearly 5 million barrels per day, according to the person cited by the agency. In addition, between 700,000 and 900,000 barrels of refined products are being exported per day. Of the total volume transported through the pipeline, approximately 2 million barrels per day are directed to domestic refineries.Although, even at full capacity, the route does not fully replace volumes previously shipped via Hormuz, which handled about 15 million barrels a day before the war, the availability of this option has helped limit the extent of price increases compared to earlier supply disruptions.Market concerns are now moving towards the Red Sea after Yemen’s Houthis said they may enter the war. Although there has been no indication of plans to target ships passing through the Red Sea or the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the group has in the past threatened shipping in the area using drones and missiles.Saudi Arabia had long prepared for a situation in which Hormuz could be closed. Its contingency plan was put into action within hours of the first US and Israeli attacks on Iran, with flows along the East-West pipeline increasing steadily since then.The pipeline extends more than 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) from oil-producing areas in the east of the country to Yanbu on the Red Sea coast. It was originally developed in response to the risks exposed during the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s, when tanker attacks disrupted movement through the strait, however the current situation has led to a near-closure on a scale not seen before.
