OIL EXPORTS RESUMED AFTER REPAIR OF EAST-WEST PIPELINE

RIYADH, SEPTEMBER 28 /SRNA/ - Saudi Arabia has resumed overseas crude oil exports via the East-West Pipeline system, ending a 17-day halt in exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu, Bloomberg reported citing sources familiar with the situation.

Saudi Aramco, the state oil giant whose entire export infrastructure was disrupted during the US-Iran war, confirmed that it was resuming oil exports after drone attacks on September 11, which Riyadh blamed on Iraqi militants, damaged three pumping stations and led to a complete shutdown of the pipeline.

The 1,200-kilometre pipeline, which connects oil fields in the east of the country with the Red Sea port of Yanbu, transported around four million barrels per day, equivalent to approximately four per cent of global supply.

Riyadh diverted all of its oil exports through the pipeline when the war in the Middle East disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz in early March.