From Yanbu to Ras Tanura
Attacks damaged Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline, disrupting the route to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. In preliminary September data from Kpler reported by Reuters, shipments from Ras Tanura on the Gulf reached about 3.6 million barrels a day, up from 929,000 in August. The change moves the export outlet from the Red Sea to the Gulf. Tankers sailing out of the Gulf then pass through the Strait of Hormuz.[1]
Saudi Arabia’s total crude exports are on track to rise from 2.5 million barrels a day in August to about 5.4 million in September. The Ras Tanura increase locates much of that recovery at a particular port. Yet the same port shipped 6.4 million barrels a day in February, so September’s rate remains below its earlier level.[1]
The passage on the replacement route
Preliminary Kpler figures put regional oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz on course for about 7.4 million barrels a day in September. Last week 19 very large tankers, each carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi oil, left the strait. With the pipeline’s western outlet disrupted, shifting cargo to the eastern port increases the role of that sea passage in Saudi exports. The reported vessels crossed it; these figures do not describe a closed strait.[1]
Combined exports from seven regional producers are recovering to 12.8 million barrels a day in September, still about 6 million below February’s 18.8 million. Kpler’s vessel count also excludes ships that cross with their automatic identification transponders switched off. The port and strait figures therefore measure the visible route change, with incomplete vessel coverage. Later changes in Ras Tanura and strait volumes provide a concrete measure of the shift’s durability.[1]