East-West Crude Pipeline
Roughly 1,200 km crude line from the Abqaiq area in the Eastern Province to Yanbu on the Red Sea, with capacity near 7 million b/d, of which about 5 million is typically for export. Saudi Arabia's only large-volume export route bypassing the Strait of Hormuz; shut in mid-September 2026 after drone attacks on pump stations, restarted at a low rate on September 22 per Reuters sources, and back to about 3.5 million b/d by September 28 per Bloomberg sources. Attribution unconfirmed.
Record verified against Bloomberg via Rigzone, 2026-09-28; Bloomberg via Al Arabiya, 2026-09-28. Tracked since 2026-09.
From the public record
- 2026-09-13
Satellite analysis separates emergency flaring from rupture along the attacked corridor. Payne Institute's Earth Observation Group resolved eight thermal clusters on the night of September 10 using VIIRS Nightfire and NASA FIRMS; most coincided with existing flare pits burning an order of magnitude above normal, and high-resolution imagery confirmed fire damage at two pumping stations.
- 2026-09-22
Restart at a low pumping rate; Yanbu loadings to resume. Three sources told Reuters the line restarted at a low rate with one China-bound cargo scheduled at Yanbu; Aramco seeks about 4 million b/d and a security source said full resumption could take weeks.
- 2026-09-28
Exports resume at about 3.5 million b/d, half of capacity. People with direct knowledge told Bloomberg that exports through the repaired line had started and flows reached about 3.5 million b/d; Aramco and the energy ministry did not respond, and a person familiar had said full resumption could take about six weeks.