Aramco Signals Yanbu Crude Restart for 3 Asian Refiners as 750-Mile Pipeline Repairs Advance
Updated
Updated · OilPrice.com · Sep 22
Aramco Signals Yanbu Crude Restart for 3 Asian Refiners as 750-Mile Pipeline Repairs Advance
2 articles · Updated · OilPrice.com · Sep 22
Summary
At least three Asian refiners were informally told by Aramco they could soon lift crude cargoes from Yanbu again, though no restart date was given.
Yanbu loadings were halted after Sept. 10 drone attacks hit the East-West pipeline, the 750-mile route that lets Saudi crude bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
Repairs are expected to take three to five weeks, while Saudi officials are working to restore partial pipeline operations at about half capacity within days and full capacity in roughly six weeks.
Until then, Aramco has increased shipments through Hormuz and offered Ras Tanura cargoes via ship-to-ship transfers at Sohar in Oman, while Europe was cut off from October Yanbu loadings.
A Yanbu restart would ease supply concerns for refiners chasing unusually strong diesel margins and reduce pressure on Saudi export flows through Hormuz.