# Saudi energy minister puts East-West pipeline flows at 5.8 million b/d, in the first official figure since the Houthi claim at Khurais

> Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on October 6 that the East-West pipeline was carrying 5.8 million barrels a day as of that morning, about 83 percent of its 7 million b/d capacity and close to the level Bloomberg's sources reported before the October 4 Houthi claim. As reported, he did not address the claimed strike on the Khurais pump station, and Argus sources said three of the line's 11 pumping stations had been damaged without saying in which attack.

- Label: Fact
- Type: News item
- Published: 2026-10-07T06:00:00+09:00
- Written: 2026-10-22, as of the published date (a catch-up edition)
- By: Jun Zhong
- Researched and drafted by: Beacon's AI newsroom
- Status: unconfirmed
- Topics: Pipelines
- Canonical: https://beacon.winda.ai/news/2026-10-07-east-west-crude-pipeline/

## Where it stands

Saudi Arabia has now put a number on the line's throughput. Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on October 6 that flows were "back up to 5.8 million barrels" as of that morning, against a maximum capacity of 7 million barrels a day [1] [2]. As reported by Reuters and Asharq Al-Awsat, he did not refer to the Houthi claim of an October 4 strike at Khurais or to the AFP report that the line had stopped again [1] [2]. Argus, citing sources, reported that three of the pipeline's 11 pumping stations had been damaged but the pipe itself had not; the report does not say which attack the damage dates from [3]. No damage assessment for Khurais, no export figure for Yanbu and no official attribution had been published by the edition's date. Beacon keeps the incident status at unconfirmed: the throughput question is largely answered, the Khurais damage is not.

## What happened

On October 5, an energy-sector source told AFP that the October 4 attack hit the Khurais pumping station east of Riyadh, a site not targeted before, and that the pipeline "stopped again" [5]. People familiar told Bloomberg the same day that crude continued to move normally, and that flows had been raised above 80 percent of capacity late the previous week, leaving about 4.5 million barrels a day for export after supply to west-coast refineries [6]. Aramco and the energy ministry did not respond to Bloomberg [6].

On October 6, speaking on a panel at the Made in GCC 2026 forum in Manama, the minister said the kingdom began using the line again "within five or six days" of the major attack that struck it, and gave the 5.8 million figure [1] [2]. That restart timeline is shorter than the record kept by Kpler, which AFP cited as showing flows halted from September 11 to September 22 [5]. Reuters, via Al Jazeera, also cited Kpler data putting the line's August flows at about 2 million barrels a day, its lowest monthly level since January, after Houthi attacks made the Red Sea route harder to use [1].

The Argus report ran on Newsquawk's feed at 13:10 UTC on October 6 [3]. Crude settled roughly flat that day: November WTI rose $0.01 to $89.44 a barrel and December Brent $0.26 to $100.58, with Newsquawk listing the minister's figure and the Argus report among the day's drivers [4].

**Analysis:**
## What it means

The split Beacon carried on October 6 has narrowed. A ministry figure of 5.8 million barrels a day on the morning of October 6 sits close to the "above 80 percent" Bloomberg's sources gave for the days before the Khurais claim. Either the line never stopped or any stop was short. That is a statement about throughput, not about damage: on a line with 11 pumping stations, losing one station typically costs hydraulic margin rather than all flow, so 83 percent of capacity is consistent with a damaged station being bypassed. The Khurais claim stays unconfirmed until Aramco or the ministry addresses it.

Treat the official figure with care. It is a single spoken number on a forum panel, not a published flow series, and its restart timeline is about half the length of Kpler's. The checks are Yanbu loadings in tanker-tracking data against the roughly 4.5 million barrels a day that was available for export before the weekend, and whether a figure is repeated in a written ministry or Aramco statement.

For integrity teams, the Argus detail matters more than the headline number. If three of 11 stations were damaged and the pipe was not, the work is in station equipment: pumps, drivers, valves, control systems and power supply. That equipment usually takes longer to replace than line pipe, and running at 5.8 million barrels a day around damaged stations puts more duty on the stations still in service. Operators of comparable crude trunklines in conflict zones should check whether their hydraulic models cover station-out cases at high rates, and what spares they hold for pump and driver packages. The next marker is whether flows reach 7 million barrels a day and when. Nothing in the record attributes any damage to a specific cause beyond the competing claims.

## Sources

1. [Saudi Arabia says East-West pipeline pumping 5.8 million bpd, Al Jazeera and Reuters](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/6/saudi-arabia-says-east-west-pipeline-pumping-5-8-million-bpd), 2026-10-06
2. [Saudi Energy Minister: Oil Pumped Through East-West Pipeline Reached 5.8 Million Barrels, Asharq Al-Awsat](https://english.aawsat.com/business/5326530-saudi-energy-minister-oil-pumped-through-east-west-pipeline-reached-58-million), 2026-10-06
3. [Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline sustained damage to three of the 11 pumping stations, but the pipeline itself was not damaged, Argus reports citing sources, Argus](https://www.newsquawk.com/headlines/saudi-arabias-east-west-pipeline-sustained-damage-to-three-of-the-11-pumping-stations-but-the-pipeline-itself-was-not-damaged-argus-reports-citing-sources), 2026-10-06
4. [CRUDE WRAP: WTI (X6) SETTLES USD 0.01 HIGHER AT 89.44/BBL; BRENT (Z6) SETTLES USD 0.26 HIGHER AT USD 100.58/BBL, Newsquawk](https://www.newsquawk.com/headlines/crude-wrap-wti-x6-settles-usd-001-higher-at-8944bbl), 2026-10-06
5. [Saudi's East-West oil pipeline pumping halted after new attack, AFP](https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2026/10/05/saudi-s-east-west-oil-pipeline-pumping-halted-after-new-attack), 2026-10-05
6. [Saudi East-West pipeline operating normally after attack claim, Bloomberg](https://en.yenisafak.com/world/saudi-oil-pipeline-operates-normally-after-attack-report-3724143), 2026-10-05

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