Crude loadings from Saudi Aramco's Yanbu terminal on the Red Sea resumed at roughly 2 million barrels per day last week, according to two trade sources, after the East-West Pipeline restarted operations on Sept. 22, ending an 11-day shutdown triggered by a Sept. 11 drone attack.

Saudi Arabia blamed Iraqi militias for the drone strikes that forced the line offline. Aramco notified customers Monday evening of its October loading schedule from Yanbu, an Asian refining source said, and the refiner loaded a cargo from Yanbu late last week. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

How much crude is moving at Yanbu?

Two trade sources estimated Yanbu loadings at about 2 MMbpd since the restart. An industry source put pipeline throughput at roughly 2 MMbpd; ship-tracking firm Kpler pegged current throughput at 2.65 MMbpd. The East-West Pipeline carries a nameplate capacity of 7 MMbpd.

European Space Agency satellite imagery captured over the Red Sea on Sept. 27 shows Saudi Arabia loading nearly 10 million barrels of crude at Yanbu and the Al Muajjiz terminal to the south, vessel-tracking firm TankerTrackers.com said in a post on X. The firm also observed refined-product loadings. "In total, we visually identified 40 tankers, regardless of their activity or proximity to these terminals," TankerTrackers wrote.

What does the throughput ramp look like?

Kpler expects pipeline throughput to climb to between 3 MMbpd and 4 MMbpd in the coming days. A full return to the pre-attack rate of roughly 5.5 MMbpd could take another month, the firm said in a Monday note. Crude inventories at the Yanbu terminal rose by about 1 million barrels on Sept. 22, the first storage build since the attack.

Where does Yanbu sit in the wider Middle East flow picture?

The Yanbu resumption adds to signs of rebuilding Middle East exports following a recovery in flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Trade sources have previously linked throttled regional oil shipments to the US war with Iran — a constraint the Yanbu restart eases at the margin.

CNA reported Monday's loadings weighed on global oil prices, reinforcing the picture of incremental supply returning. Crude loadings at Egypt's Sidi Kerir, a key Mediterranean outlet that handles Saudi crude, resumed Sept. 22 after a 10-day hiatus, though tankers remain queued offshore as restrictions limit access for much of the commercial fleet, Kpler said.

The East-West Pipeline runs roughly 1,200 km across Saudi Arabia from the Eastern Province oilfields to Yanbu on the Red Sea, giving Aramco an export route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz.

What to watch

Aramco's confirmation of its October Yanbu program for Asian refiners; Kpler's next throughput print as the line aims for 3–4 MMbpd; the draw-down or extension of the roughly 1 MMbbl Yanbu inventory build from Sept. 22; and Sidi Kerir's queue clearance as tanker access rules evolve. Any further drone or missile incident on the East-West Pipeline infrastructure would reset the clock back to zero.