Saudi Arabia Resumes East-West Pipeline Operations

The pipeline is currently operating at a reduced capacity, with state-owned Aramco targeting a full recovery to 4 million barrels per day over the coming weeks. A vessel was scheduled to load at the Red Sea port of Yanbu for China on Tuesday, signaling the initial stages of this restart. Market reaction was swift, as Brent crude dipped below $98 per barrel and WTI dropped under $92 before initiating a modest recovery.

Prior to the shutdown, the pipeline was essential for moving crude to Yanbu for transport through Egypt’s SUMED system to Mediterranean markets. The outage forced Aramco to halt October crude allocations for European customers while redirecting volumes toward the Persian Gulf. As flows return, traders are repositioning tankers near Egypt’s Port Said and Sidi Kerir in anticipation of reopened transit routes. Despite these logistical shifts, the physical oil market remains volatile, constrained by lingering bottlenecks in the Strait of Hormuz and ongoing tightness in global diesel supplies.