By Olivia Hart

Saudi Arabia will target a 10 million barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity across a new overland crude corridor, with construction scheduled to complete within two years. The kingdom will achieve the throughput by temporarily converting an existing natural gas pipeline to oil service, according to a report carried by BigGo Finance.

The 10 million bpd target approaches Aramco's stated 12 million bpd sustainable capacity and substantially exceeds the 5 million bpd nominal throughput of the existing East-West Pipeline to Yanbu. An overland corridor of this scale would also redirect meaningful volumes away from the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of seaborne global oil currently transits.

Pipeline conversion at this scale is technically unusual. Natural gas lines operate at much higher pressure than crude systems and require different metallurgy, pump configuration, and leak-detection standards.

Repurposing a gas line for liquid service typically demands depressurization, internal cleaning, and full re-certification before commissioning. The trade-off is a faster build-out than a new line at the cost of lost gas capacity for the conversion period.

The plan, as reported, is a two-year capacity goal anchored to a pipeline conversion rather than a greenfield (built from new) build.

What role does Yanbu play in the export chain?

Yanbu is Saudi Arabia's primary Red Sea crude export complex. The terminal loads tankers at single-point moorings, including very large crude carriers (VLCCs) above 2 million barrels per cargo.

Routing additional Saudi crude to Yanbu shortens voyages to Asian refiners by several thousand nautical miles compared with Persian Gulf loadings through Hormuz. The shorter route reduces both freight cost and exposure to chokepoint insurance premiums, which rise during periods of regional tension.

The Red Sea terminal already has the loading infrastructure to handle a meaningful increase in throughput.

What does the two-year window imply?

Greenfield pipeline projects of comparable diameter historically require three to five years from final investment decision (FID) to mechanical completion, making a two-year window from planning stage aggressive. The compressed timeline suggests heavy reliance on existing rights-of-way (statutory land corridors) and existing pumping-station assets.

The plan as described remains a planning-stage intention, not a sanctioned project with disclosed engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) awards or a confirmed FID. The two-year clock from planning is now the most measurable commitment on the record.

How does the corridor fit the export system?

The route points toward expanded crude flows to Yanbu on the Red Sea, which provides direct loading access to Asian and European buyers without Hormuz routing.

The temporary nature of the conversion preserves the option to return the line to gas service once redundancy is achieved. Saudi Arabia continues to add domestic gas output for power generation and petrochemical feedstock, reducing direct crude burn at the kingdom's power plants.

The plan rebalances the kingdom's export geography toward the Red Sea while preserving gas capacity for eventual return.

What does the source leave unconfirmed?

The report does not identify the specific pipeline selected, its route length, the split between existing East-West capacity and the converted gas line, project cost, or contractor structure. Cost per barrel of capacity and the financing mechanism for a temporary conversion are also unaddressed.

The headline numbers are firm; the engineering and commercial detail behind them is not yet public.

Watch items

Three downstream signals merit monitoring. First, an official statement from Saudi Aramco or the Ministry of Energy confirming route, capacity, and timeline. Second, the EPC award for pumping-station modification work.

Third, the commissioning date of the first converted segment, against which the two-year target can be measured. The deadline itself is the most useful external benchmark for the project.