# Saudi Arabia Weighs Raising East-West Pipeline Capacity to 10 Million Barrels a Day

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/30984
Published: 2026-10-13T09:42:20.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-13T09:42:20.000Z
Section: Business

> The proposed expansion would add about 3 million barrels per day above the pipeline’s current maximum capacity and offer another route to global markets.

Saudi Arabia is considering raising the East-West Pipeline’s capacity to approximately 10 million barrels per day, a move that could expand crude-export options outside the Strait of Hormuz.

Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman described the target at an energy conference in Riyadh on Oct. 12. The reported capacity would be about 3 million barrels per day above the pipeline’s current maximum of approximately 7 million barrels per day.

The East-West Pipeline, also known as Petroline, connects oil-production facilities in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province with Yanbu on the Red Sea. The route allows crude to reach international markets without passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a major energy-shipping chokepoint.

The Ministry of Energy said Apr. 12 that restoration work had returned full pumping capacity to approximately 7 million barrels per day. Public remarks earlier in October placed operating throughput at approximately 5.8 million barrels per day, a figure that measures current flows rather than the pipeline’s maximum capacity.

If completed, the higher-capacity route could give Saudi Arabia more flexibility to redirect crude exports away from Gulf shipping routes. It would not eliminate exposure to security risks around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and greater use of Yanbu would depend on available loading capacity there.

Aramco is examining other measures to support export flexibility. President and CEO Amin H. Nasser said Oct. 12, “In alignment with the Ministry of Energy, we are studying additional crude export routes, and working on expanding overseas storage.”