Saudi Arabia restarts East-West oil pipeline, sources say

Saudi Arabia has resumed operations at its East-West Pipeline, with the potential to resume exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu on Tuesday, according to three sources familiar with the situation. The restart of supplies on Tuesday contributed to a decline in global oil markets, with Brent crude futures falling by over $2 a barrel to as low as $97, its lowest level since September 8.

Drone attacks, attributed by Saudi Arabia to Iraqi militia, led to the closure of the pipeline on September 11, halting crude shipments to Yanbu. Since the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran disrupted oil flows from Saudi Arabia and its Gulf partners through the Strait of Hormuz, Riyadh has utilized the pipeline to reroute around 4 million barrels per day, which accounts for approximately 4% of global oil supply.

State-owned Saudi Aramco has not yet commented on the situation, and full resumption of the pipeline may take several weeks, as reported by the sources. Currently, the pipeline is running at a reduced rate following its restart, with two sources indicating that Aramco is still in the early stages of the resumption process.