An informed source confirmed that the Saudi East-West oil pipeline belonging to Aramco has reached its maximum capacity for transporting oil, with quantities reaching 7 million barrels per day.
Saudi Arabia has successfully activated an emergency plan to increase oil exports via the East-West pipeline within the Kingdom’s territory to the Red Sea, in light of the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the conflict in the Middle East, which has choked off a major outlet for oil producers in the Gulf, according to Bloomberg.
Groups of oil tankers have rerouted to the port of Yanbu to collect shipments, providing an important supply artery for global supplies.
According to the agency, the informed source revealed that crude exports via Yanbu have now reached 5 million barrels per day. The Kingdom also exports about 700,000 to 900,000 barrels per day of petroleum products. Of the 7 million barrels that pass through the pipeline, 2 million barrels are directed to Saudi refineries.
The Yanbu route partially compensates for the disruption of supplies caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 15 million barrels per day of crude oil shipments passed before the war; however, this alternative route is one of the reasons that prevented oil prices from reaching the crisis levels witnessed in previous supply shocks.
