Saudi Arabia Restarts Yanbu Crude Shipments After Drone-Damaged Pipeline Reopens

After a drone strike on Sep 11 forced the closure of the East-West pipeline, Saudi Arabia has revived crude exports from its Red Sea hub of Yanbu. Operations on the pipeline resumed last Tuesday, prompting Saudi Aramco to inform clients of an October loading timetable. Satellite images captured on Sep 27 revealed close to 10 million barrels of oil being loaded at Yanbu and the nearby Al Muajjiz terminal, with 40 tankers observed in the vicinity.

Trade sources place current Yanbu crude shipments at roughly 2 million barrels per day, while vessel-tracking firm Kpler projects pipeline throughput could rise to between 3 million and 4 million barrels per day soon. A full return to pre-attack levels of about 5.5 million barrels per day may still require another month, but the restart helps lift Middle East oil exports toward pre-conflict volumes.