Saudi Arabia has resumed oil tanker loadings at the Yanbu port following the restart of the East-West Pipeline, enhancing the outlook for Middle Eastern oil exports. Loadings had been suspended after a drone attack on the pipeline earlier this month, which negatively impacted global oil prices. On Monday, Saudi Aramco informed customers of its October loading schedule, indicating a return to operations as a cargo was loaded late last week.
The drone attacks, attributed to Iraqi militias, led to the pipeline’s closure on September 11, but operations resumed last Tuesday. Satellite imagery from the European Space Agency confirmed the loading of nearly 10 million barrels of crude oil at Yanbu and the nearby Al Muajjiz terminal. Reports indicate that crude loadings from Yanbu have reached around 2 million barrels per day since the restart.
While current throughput is below the pipeline’s 7 million bpd capacity, it is expected to increase to between 3 million and 4 million bpd soon. A full return to pre-attack levels of about 5.5 million bpd may take another month. Additionally, crude inventories at Yanbu rose by approximately 1 million barrels, signaling a recovery in oil shipments from the region.
