Tankers are once again loading crude oil from a key Saudi Arabian pipeline in the Red Sea, signaling a partial resumption of operations following damage from a recent drone attack.
According to maritime data firm Kpler, approximately 12.5 million barrels of crude have been loaded onto nine tankers off the Red Sea coast since Sunday. The loading of three tankers in the past 24 hours provides the strongest indication to date that the 750-mile East-West pipeline, which transports crude oil across Saudi Arabia, is at least partially functional.
Saudi authorities announced on September 11 that the pipeline had been taken offline, attributing the damage to a drone attack carried out by an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia. Despite Kpler's assessment of resumed operations, neither Saudi Arabia's energy ministry nor the state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco have issued public statements regarding the pipeline's status since the attack, and both declined to comment on the resumption of activities.
An extended shutdown of the East-West pipeline would have significantly curtailed Saudi Arabia's capacity to export oil, impacting its position as the region's largest oil producer. The pipeline had become a crucial alternative route for the kingdom, particularly after the war in Iran largely impeded maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz seven months prior.
The East-West pipeline provides an alternative to transporting oil through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a waterway at the southern end of the Red Sea largely controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, which can be hazardous for navigation. From Red Sea ports, tankers typically proceed through the Suez Canal and a pipeline across Egypt to reach global markets.
