Saudi Resumes Yanbu Oil Exports After Pipeline Restart
Saudi Arabia has resumed oil loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting operations on the East-West Pipeline, according to trade sources and shipping data. The pipeline was shut down on September 11 due to drone attacks blamed by Saudi Arabia on Iraqi militias, halting crude exports from Yanbu.
Pipeline operations resumed last Tuesday, allowing State oil giant Saudi Aramco to notify customers of its October loading schedule from Yanbu. Two trade sources estimate that crude loadings from Yanbu have averaged about 2 million barrels per day since last week.
Ship-tracking firm Kpler estimates current throughput on the pipeline at around 2.65 million bpd and expects it to climb to between 3 million and 4 million bpd in the coming days. A full return to the pre-attack rate of roughly 5.5 million bpd could still take another month.