Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said on Friday that it had precautionarily halted oil flows through the East-West pipeline after it came under drone attacks in the Riyadh and Medina regions. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said drones originating from Iraq carried out the attack on September 10, causing casualties and material damage that is being addressed.
A source at the Energy Ministry said emergency and technical teams had begun securing the pipeline and checking its integrity. The precautionary shutdown involves suspending flows to verify the safety of the pipeline, pumping stations and operating systems before work resumes; it does not necessarily mean permanent structural damage has occurred.
A 1,200-kilometre pipeline
The East-West pipeline, known as Petroline, runs 1,200 kilometres from Abqaiq in eastern Saudi Arabia to Yanbu on the Red Sea coast. Saudi Aramco owns and operates the pipeline to transport crude oil along an inland route that does not pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Data from Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry issued on April 12 showed that the pipeline’s maximum capacity was about 7 million barrels per day. Aramco said in its first-quarter 2026 results report that it had raised the pipeline’s throughput to its maximum to support supplies through the western coast.
Estimates of flows through Yanbu
British oil-shipping firm Vortexa estimated Yanbu loadings at about 3.7 million barrels per day in early September, compared with about 3.2 million barrels in August. Shipping-tracking firm Kpler estimated September loadings at about 2.9 million barrels per day, versus about 1.5 million barrels per day in August.
The divergence between the two estimates reflects differences in methodologies for tracking tanker movements, while both indicate that actual flows through the western coast remained below the East-West pipeline’s maximum capacity.
The strategic importance of the shutdown
The pipeline became more important during 2026 as shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz declined. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said the diversion of supplies through the East-West pipeline helped support flows through the Red Sea during the second quarter of the year, as the volume of oil and petroleum liquids transiting Hormuz fell sharply compared with the end of 2025.
The pipeline enables Saudi Arabia to move part of its supplies to western-coast refineries and export terminals when shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted, but it faces risks linked to rising tensions around the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb. The pipeline is dedicated to transporting crude oil, rather than distributing refined products to domestic consumers, so the shutdown’s immediate impact is tied to supplies destined for refineries and export terminals.
