Saudi East-West Pipeline Back Online After Weeks of Disruption

Saudi Arabia has restarted its East-West Pipeline after a drone attack forced the kingdom to shut it down on September 11. The pipeline, which reroutes around 4 million barrels per day - roughly 4% of global supply - was damaged in the attack and was only pumping at a low rate after its restart.

The resumption of supplies on Tuesday helped drive selling on global oil markets, causing Brent crude to fall by more than $2 a barrel towards $97, its lowest since September 8. The pipeline's capacity is 7 million bpd, but it will take weeks to reach full pumping rates.

Aramco was seeking to get the pumping rate back to 4 million bpd, according to sources. Reaching a rate of 40% of capacity will take a couple of days, and a full restart will take 6-8 weeks, said a security source. Another oil industry source estimated it would take up to six weeks to return to full pumping rates.