Riyadh / Strait of Hormuz — September 27, 2026
Saudi Arabia is shipping more crude oil than at any point since the Iran war began, after quickly rerouting barrels through the Strait of Hormuz when a drone attack knocked out its main bypass pipeline.
What the Numbers Show
According to tanker-tracking firm Kpler, Saudi Arabia is exporting about 6 million barrels per day in September, roughly matching its 2025 monthly average. Bloomberg's tanker data puts the figure lower, at about 5.28 million barrels per day so far this month, but agrees it is the highest since the war started. By either count, it is a sharp rebound from August, when exports were around 3.4 million barrels per day.
The Pipeline Problem
The Saudi East-West pipeline, which carries crude from the kingdom's eastern fields to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, was damaged in a drone attack on September 10 and shut down. Reports say the drone was launched from Iraq. The pipeline had been a key safety valve for the country, moving roughly 4 million barrels per day while letting Saudi Arabia avoid the Strait of Hormuz.
Industry sources told Reuters the pipeline restarted at low volumes this week and is ramping up, though Saudi Arabia has not publicly confirmed that. A full recovery is expected to take several weeks.
The Hormuz Comeback
With the pipeline down, Riyadh sent more oil back through Hormuz, using a shipping lane the US military has carved out along Oman's coast. Kpler's commodity research director said the jump reflects the pipeline outage but also suggests more confidence in using the strait as traffic there picks up.
Traffic is still well below normal. Oil exports through Hormuz averaged 13.2 million barrels per day over the past week, compared with around 17 million before the war.
Prices and Risks
Brent crude spiked to nearly $110 a barrel after the pipeline shutdown, then retreated as exports kept climbing and the market judged the disruption less severe than first feared.
The recovery is fragile. Iran continues to attack tankers in the strait, and sending more of Saudi Arabia's oil through a single chokepoint increases its exposure if fighting escalates again.
The Bottom Line
Saudi Arabia has shown it can keep near-normal oil flowing even after losing a major pipeline, at least for now. Whether that holds depends on the safety of the Hormuz corridor and how quickly the East-West pipeline returns to full strength.
This is a developing story. Export figures come from tanker-tracking firms and vary by source; Saudi Arabia has not publicly confirmed the pipeline restart.