Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline is operating at roughly half of its capacity as crude exports resume, according to a report by Quantum Commodity Intelligence.

The 5-million-bpd East-West pipeline, which carries crude from fields in the Eastern Province to the Red Sea coast, was seen running at about 50% of that throughput level as flows returned. The restart restores an export route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz and delivers crude to terminals on the Red Sea, principally Yanbu.

Quantum Commodity Intelligence, which tracks freight and cargo movements, reported the partial-utilization figure and the resumption of exports. The pipeline's nameplate capacity stands at 5 million bpd, with a stated maximum rating of 7 million bpd; a 50% operating level implies throughput in the region of 2.5 million bpd.

The East-West system, operated by Saudi Aramco, remains a critical piece of the kingdom's export infrastructure because it allows crude loaded at Yanbu to reach buyers in Europe and Asia without transiting Hormuz. Throughput levels on the line are watched closely by crude traders as an indicator of how much Saudi export volume can move on the western route at any given time.

At 50% utilization, the pipeline provides spare capacity that Aramco could call on to keep exports flowing if loadings in the Gulf are disrupted. Traders treat the line's utilization rate as one input among several — alongside tanker tracking, terminal loadings, and official selling price allocations — when assessing the kingdom's effective export capability.

The watch item is whether throughput on the East-West line climbs back toward its 5-million-bpd nameplate rating in the coming weeks, and what the recovery in Red Sea loadings at Yanbu means for arapid crude flows. Quantum's throughput observation provides the first concrete operational marker since exports resumed.