Saudi Arabia resumes oil loadings at Yanbu — OilPrice

Saudi Arabia has resumed crude oil loadings at the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast following a partial restoration of the East–West pipeline. This was reported by OilPrice, citing Reuters, vessel-tracking data and trade sources.

Partial restoration of the pipeline

Saudi Arabia shut down the onshore East–West pipeline for two weeks after drone attacks on September 10 damaged pumping stations. This route allows oil exports to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

The pipeline was partially restarted last Thursday. However, according to a source, fully restoring transportation of around 4 million barrels per day is likely to take several weeks.

The port of Yanbu and the Al-Muajjiz terminal south of it are again loading oil cargoes. According to separate estimates by two Reuters trade sources, loading volumes at Yanbu have stood at around 2 million barrels per day since last week.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Loadings at Yanbu

Late on Monday, Saudi Aramco informed customers about the October loading schedule at Yanbu, Reuters reported, citing a source at an Asian refining company.

TankerTrackers.com said satellite images obtained over the Red Sea on Sunday indicated that nearly 10 million barrels of oil were being loaded at Yanbu and Al-Muajjiz. The company also reported visually identifying 40 tankers regardless of their activity or proximity to these terminals.

According to Kpler’s estimate, at that point in September, Middle Eastern crude oil exports had recovered to approximately 12.8 million barrels per day. After the pipeline shutdown, Saudi Aramco also loaded oil onto tankers in the Gulf of Oman through ship-to-ship transfers. OilPrice notes that the resumption of shipments through Yanbu could increase global oil supply, although heightened Houthi threats to Saudi tankers in the Red Sea persist.