Report says Saudi East-West pipeline has reached full 7 million bpd capacity

By Tahani Elghazaly
Published March 30, 2026

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Reuters, citing a Bloomberg report, said Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, which moves crude from the kingdom’s eastern oil region to the Red Sea port of Yanbu and bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, is now operating at its full capacity of 7 million barrels per day. The development underscores the growing importance of the route as Saudi Arabia leans more heavily on alternative export channels during continued disruption in one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.

According to the report, which cited a person familiar with the matter, crude exports from Yanbu have reached about 5 million barrels per day, in addition to roughly 700,000 to 900,000 barrels per day of oil products. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report, while Aramco declined to comment, making careful attribution essential in any newsroom-ready version of the story.

The report builds on earlier remarks by Aramco CEO Amin Nasser on March 10, when he said the East-West pipeline was expected to reach full capacity within days as customers rerouted shipments. He also said nearly 2 million barrels per day of the pipeline’s total capacity go to domestic refineries in western Saudi Arabia, leaving substantial volumes available for export through Yanbu.

Reuters also reported on March 24 that crude exports through Yanbu had surged to nearly 4 million barrels per day in the week beginning March 16, with expectations that volumes could rise to around 5 million barrels per day by the end of the month. That trend places the pipeline at the center of Saudi Arabia’s strategy to reduce dependence on Hormuz during a period of heavy strain on oil and shipping markets.