Saudi Arabia Restarts Oil Loadings at Yanbu Amid Pipeline Restart

Saudi Arabia has resumed oil loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting operations on the East-West Pipeline, improving the outlook for oil exports from the Middle East.

The pipeline was shut down on September 11 due to drone attacks, which Saudi Arabia blamed on Iraqi militias. Operations were restarted on September 22.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco notified customers of its October loading schedule from Yanbu, and a refiner loaded a cargo from the port late last week.

Kpler estimates that current throughput on the pipeline is around 2.65 million barrels per day and expects it to climb to between three million and four million barrels per day in the coming days.