Saudi East-West Pipeline Restart Sparks Selling on Oil Markets
Saudi Arabia has restarted operations at its East-West Pipeline after being forced to shut it down due to drone attacks on September 13. The pipeline, which reroutes around 4 million barrels per day of oil around 4% of global supply through the Red Sea port of Yanbu, is now pumping at a low rate.
The restart comes as OPEC's leading oil exporter seeks to get back on track after disruptions caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. Since then, Saudi Arabia has been using the pipeline to reroute oil to avoid the Strait of Hormuz.
State oil firm Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. One source said Aramco is seeking to get the pumping rate back to 4 million bpd, while another source noted that full resumption could take weeks.