Yemeni Forces Disrupt Saudi Oil Exports, Force Shift to Egyptian Pipeline

The Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) claimed to have disrupted Saudi Arabia's oil export route by striking at Yanbu, a key transportation hub. The operation involved several drones targeting what the YAF described as repeated violations of Yemeni airspace by Saudi reconnaissance drones.

According to Windward, a maritime intelligence firm, loading volumes at Yanbu plummeted by approximately 40% after July 19. This decline was from about 5.16 million barrels per day to roughly 3.09 million barrels per day, based on Vortexa shipping data.

Tanker operations at the King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu have also been significantly altered, with vessels increasingly switching off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders while at berth. This apparent effort to avoid being tracked by Ansar Allah has led Windward to speculate that Saudi Arabia is relying more heavily on an alternative export route through Egypt's SUMED pipeline.

The Egyptian pipeline connects Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea to Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean coast, before shipments continue around the Cape of Good Hope toward Asian markets. As a result, crude flows through this route reportedly increased from approximately 1.15 million barrels per day to 1.60 million barrels per day over the same period.