πΈπ¦ NEW: Saudi crude exports averaged nearly 9 million barrels per day (bpd) over the past seven days, TankerTrackers said, as Saudi Arabia resumed loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting the East-West Pipeline.
β€ That would be well above the roughly 7 million bpd Saudi Arabia exported before the war, and far above the roughly 2.4 million bpd shipped in August, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters. TankerTrackers said the figure counts only exports it could visually identify from available satellite imagery.
β€ The pipeline allows Riyadh a bypass export route around the Strait of Hormuz, where the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has restricted shipments. It was shut after a Sept. 11 drone attack that Saudi Arabia said was launched from Iraq. Iraqi armed groups denied involvement.
β€ Kpler estimates current pipeline throughput at about 2.65 million bpd and expects it to rise to 3β4 million bpd in the coming days, though a return to the pre-attack rate of roughly 5.5 million bpd could take another month.
β€ Satellite imagery from Sunday showed nearly 10 million barrels being loaded at Yanbu and nearby Al Muajjiz, according to TankerTrackers, while trade sources cited by Reuters estimated loadings at around 2 million bpd since last week.