Saudi Arabia has restarted the East-West pipeline and may resume crude oil exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu later on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Two of the sources said the pipeline was operating at a low flow rate.
Flows gradually resume
The low-rate operation marks a gradual return of crude flows through the pipeline, which links production areas in eastern Saudi Arabia with the Red Sea port of Yanbu and provides a route for exporting oil away from the Strait of Hormuz.
Crude loading from Yanbu halted
Drone attacks had prompted Saudi Arabia to shut the East-West pipeline on September 13, 2026, halting the loading of crude shipments from the port of Yanbu.
The pipeline stretches 1,200 kilometers across Saudi Arabia, carrying crude from the Abqaiq facilities in the east of the kingdom to Yanbu on the Red Sea.
