Saudi Arabia Reboots Oil Exports with Yanbu Loadings Resume

Saudi Arabia has resumed oil tanker loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting operations on the East-West Pipeline, according to trade sources and shipping data. This development improves the outlook for oil exports from the Middle East.

The resumption of Yanbu loadings, halted earlier this month due to a drone attack on the pipeline, weighed on global oil prices as it added to signs of increased flows from the region.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco notified customers on Monday evening of its October loading schedule from Yanbu. The refiner loaded a cargo from Yanbu late last week.

Crude inventories at the Yanbu terminal rose by roughly 1m barrels on Sept 22, the first build since the attack. Oil throughput on the pipeline is about 2m barrels per day and around 2.65m bpd according to ship-tracking firm Kpler.