Saudi Arabia reroutes around the Strait of Hormuz, causing oil exports from Yanbu Port to surge to a historic high

As tensions in the Middle East remain high, Saudi Arabia is reshaping its crude oil export routes at an unprecedented pace.

Saudi Arabia has massively brought its East-West pipeline network online, diverting crude oil that previously exited via the Persian Gulf to be shipped out through the Red Sea ports of Yanbu, in order to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Data from shipping analytics firm Kpler shows that since March, crude oil loading at Yanbu Port has risen to about 3.4 million barrels per day on average. In the past week alone, it has even exceeded 4.5 million barrels per day at times, with some single-day volumes surpassing 5 million barrels, setting a historical record.

Kpler analysts Emmanuel Belostrino and Jashan Prema said, “This marks Red Sea shipping entering unprecedented territory, underscoring the scale of the route adjustment.”

The East-West pipeline runs at full throttle; Yanbu exports double

Saudi Arabia began putting the East-West pipeline network into large-scale operation at the start of this month, sending crude oil from processing centers in the eastern oil fields and along the Persian Gulf coast to Yanbu Port on the west coast. According to Kpler data, the pipeline is designed to carry roughly 7 million barrels per day, while the estimated maximum loading capacity of Yanbu Port is about 4.5 million barrels per day.

Since the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted, in just a bit more than two weeks, Saudi Arabia has doubled Yanbu Port’s crude oil export volume. As of this week, the daily shipment volume of the port’s two north-south terminals is approaching nearly 4.5 million barrels, pushing up against the port’s physical ceiling.

From the flow perspective, most of the export barrels are still being shipped eastward. Kpler data shows that India and China together account for about half of Yanbu’s outbound shipments. So far this month, the two countries combined have been receiving about 1.5 million barrels per day on average, replacing cargo volumes that were previously typically loaded along the Saudi Persian Gulf coast.

Red Sea congestion becomes the key bottleneck, with delays reaching five days

However, the rapid surge in export volumes is creating new logistical strain. Kpler analysts noted that the number of oil tankers waiting offshore near Yanbu Port has exceeded 30, a record high, and that in the past week the loading wait time has been extended to about five days.

Congestion at Red Sea ports is becoming the core constraint of this diversion plan. Even though the pipeline’s transmission capacity still has room, Yanbu Port’s loading capacity is near an upper limit of about 4.5 million barrels per day, and combined with the buildup of many tankers, the scale of exports that can actually be achieved has been clearly compressed.

Even though Saudi Arabia has tried hard to boost throughput on alternative routes, the overall supply shortfall still remains difficult to fully make up. The roughly 15 million barrels per day of transport volume that the Strait of Hormuz previously handled far exceeds the carrying limits of any single alternative route, further exposing the fragility of the global energy supply chain.

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