# Saudi East-West Pipeline Restarts, Yanbu Loading Had Not Resumed

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/23781
Published: 2026-09-24T15:07:21.000Z
Updated: 2026-09-24T15:07:21.000Z

Saudi Arabia has restarted its East-West Pipeline at limited levels and is moving more crude westward. Tanker loading at Yanbu had not resumed as of Sept. 24, leaving the country’s export recovery incomplete.

Crude was moving through the pipeline to refineries on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast rather than into export tankers. Current throughput has not been disclosed.

The restart followed a precautionary shutdown after multiple attacks in the Riyadh and Medina regions on Sept. 10. The pipeline had resumed operations at a low rate, but the return of crude flows had not yet restored tanker loading at Yanbu.

The East-West Pipeline links oil facilities in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province with Yanbu. The route gives Saudi Arabia an alternative path to move crude toward the Red Sea without relying solely on export routes through the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

The pipeline’s stated pumping capacity is approximately 7 million barrels per day. That figure describes the system’s full capacity, while current throughput has not been disclosed.

The latest development follows Saudi Aramco’s review of additional oil export routes as the company assesses options for moving crude during disruption around established shipping channels.

The next concrete development is whether tanker loading resumes at Yanbu after the partial pipeline restart.

## Links in this article

- [Saudi Aramco’s review of additional oil export routes](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/23705)