Saudi Arabia Restores East-West Pipeline Flows to 5.8 Million Barrels Per Day

Saudi Arabia’s crucial East-West crude pipeline has reached an operating throughput of 5.8 million barrels per day (bpd) following repairs from a major attack last month, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman announced on Tuesday. Speaking during a panel discussion at the GCC 2026 Forum in Manama, Bahrain, the minister confirmed that operations were quickly resumed and have now returned to high operational capacity.

“Not everyone knows that within five or six days, we began using the pipeline again after the major attack that struck it,” Prince Abdulaziz told attendees, citing drone strikes blamed on Iraqi militia groups in early September. The Saudi Ministry of Energy had temporarily shut down the route as a precautionary measure before specialized crews secured and assessed the infrastructure. “And, thank God, as of this morning we’re back up to 5.8 million barrels,” he added.

The 1,200-kilometer (750-mile) conduit, formally known as Petroline, links major oil extraction fields in the kingdom’s eastern province directly to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Built in 1981, the line boasts a maximum design capacity of 7 million bpd. It serves as Saudi Arabia's primary strategic artery to circumvent the Strait of Hormuz, which has experienced severe maritime transit disruptions amid broader regional conflicts involving the United States, Israel, and Iran.

Restoring Petroline’s capacity provides critical relief for global energy markets, allowing Riyadh to bypass vulnerable maritime chokepoints and reroute substantial crude volumes to Western-facing terminals. Prior to the recent repairs, flows had dropped to around 2 million bpd in August amid regional threats along Red Sea shipping lanes, but the route now accounts for roughly 4 percent of global crude supplies flowing westward.