Stories
Saudi Arabia Plans 40% Pipeline Boost to Bypass Strait of Hormuz
- •Saudi Arabia plans to increase its cross-country pipeline capacity by 40% to 10 million barrels per day within two to three years.
- •State producer Saudi Aramco aims to add 1.2 million barrels a day of extra capacity within seven to eight weeks by converting a natural gas pipeline.
- •The expansion strategy aims to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and secure alternative export routes amid the ongoing regional conflict.
- •The East-West pipeline proved crucial during the crisis, allowing the kingdom to maintain up to 70% of its normal oil flows to global markets.
- •Saudi Arabia is also exploring potential international partnerships and discussions with neighbors like Kuwait and Oman to enhance export resilience.
Key Questions Answered
Saudi Arabia aims to increase its pipeline capacity away from the Persian Gulf to 10 million barrels a day within two to three years. State producer Saudi Aramco plans to add 1.2 million barrels daily within seven to eight weeks by using an existing natural gas pipeline to carry crude temporarily, while longer-term plans involve pumping station improvements on the East-West pipeline and potential international partnerships like talks with Kuwait.
The main cross-country East-West conduit can currently pump up to 7 million barrels daily, allowing the kingdom to keep about 70% of normal flows to market during the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Despite a temporary disruption from an attack last month, repairs were quickly made, and the pipeline was carrying 5.8 million barrels a day as of October 6.
Neighboring Oman, the only country on the Arabian Peninsula with most of its ports outside the Strait of Hormuz, has offered itself as a potential pipeline end point. Oman’s state energy investment firm is developing storage facilities at the port of Duqm on the Arabian Sea to allow crude loading without relying on risky ship transits through Hormuz.
