Saudi oil supply gets boost as East-West pipeline restarts

Saudi Arabia has restarted operations on its East-West oil pipeline and could resume crude exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The pipeline was shut down on September 13 following drone attacks, forcing Saudi Arabia to halt crude loadings at Yanbu.

The restart of supplies helped put downward pressure on global oil prices, traders said. Brent crude futures fell by more than $2 a barrel to their lowest level since September 8.

Amid disruptions to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Israeli war with Iran, Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil exporter within OPEC, has been using the pipeline to reroute around 4 million barrels per day to Yanbu — equivalent to roughly 4% of global oil supply.

Two sources said the pipeline was operating at a low rate following the restart. One source said Saudi Aramco was working to restore the flow rate to around 4 million barrels per day, while a security source said a full resumption could take several weeks.

The pipeline will supply crude to Aramco refineries along the Red Sea coast, one source said, adding that a cargo was scheduled to load at Yanbu later Tuesday. The shipment is expected to be bound for China.

Two other trading sources said market participants were preparing for the resumption of Saudi oil loadings by positioning tankers near Egypt’s Mediterranean ports of Port Said and Sidi Kerir for potential ship-to-ship transfers.

By Vafa Guliyeva