▲ The Saudi East-West Pipeline damaged in a drone attack on September 13, 2026
Saudi Arabia has resumed crude oil exports through the Red Sea after completing repairs on the East-West Pipeline, which had been halted due to a drone attack.
Attention is focused on whether the reopening of this critical route—allowing oil to be transported while bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has attempted to blockade—will help stabilize soaring oil prices.
The U.S. daily The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 28th (local time) that Saudi state-owned oil company Aramco resumed crude shipments transported via the East-West Pipeline from the Red Sea port of Yanbu starting the previous day.
The current throughput of the East-West Pipeline is approximately 3.5 million barrels per day.
The 1,200-kilometer-long East-West Pipeline, connecting Saudi Arabia's eastern oil fields to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, has a maximum transport capacity of 7 million barrels per day.
However, because Saudi Arabia had exported most of its crude via maritime routes before the outbreak of the war between the U.S. and Iran, the pipeline had rarely been operated at maximum capacity for extended periods.
Nevertheless, with the Strait of Hormuz blocked due to the Iran war, the East-West Pipeline has emerged as a crucial route for carrying Saudi crude.
Before its operations were suspended on the 10th following a drone attack suspected to be the work of Iran-backed factions in Iraq, approximately 4 million barrels of crude were exported daily through this route.
This volume accounts for about 4% of global crude oil supply and has played a decisive role in mitigating shocks to the crude supply market caused by the Hormuz blockade.
The WSJ pointed out that the resumption of the East-West Pipeline operations will serve as a blow to Iran, which has sought to use oil prices as leverage by controlling the Strait of Hormuz.
This is because resuming crude exports through the Yanbu port will help control international oil prices.
In fact, as news of the resumption of operations broke on the 28th, international oil prices gave up some of their gains.
Alongside this, Saudi Arabia is pursuing parallel measures to increase crude oil transport through the Strait of Hormuz.
This method involves turning off vessel identification systems, secretly slipping out of Hormuz, and transporting crude through ship-to-ship transfers in relatively safe waters.
According to shipping data firm Kpler, crude shipment volumes from Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura surged from 1.5 million barrels per day in early September to 6.5 million barrels recently.
Hamad Hussain, senior economist at Capital Economics, pointed out that the key variable drawing market attention is whether Saudi Arabia can maintain high transport volumes through Hormuz while simultaneously normalizing exports via the Yanbu port.
This means that if export volumes from both routes are maintained simultaneously, total Saudi crude exports could exceed pre-drone-attack levels, acting as downward pressure on international oil prices.
However, he forecasted that "considering the threats posed by Yemen's Houthi rebels to energy infrastructure, crude oil exports from Yanbu port will be more difficult than before."
Yemen's pro-Iran Houthi rebels, as part of the Axis of Resistance led by Iran against the U.S. and Israel, are threatening the Red Sea in alignment with Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis' threats against Saudi vessels passing through the Red Sea have the effect of strengthening Iran's position by shaking the global economy through the constriction of oil supplies.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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