Khaberni- Saudi Arabia has achieved a significant increase in crude oil exports through its ports on the Red Sea, but it has not yet reached the targeted level for oil flows through this route.
Crude oil shipments from Saudi Arabia through the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea jumped to around 4 million barrels per day during the first three weeks of April, equivalent to five times the exports from the port before the outbreak of the American-Israeli war against Iran on February 28, according to data collected by "Bloomberg".
Despite this sharp increase, the exported quantities still represent only 80% of the level that the Kingdom aims to achieve across the Red Sea.
Oil markets are closely monitoring the flows from ports on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, after Iran nearly completely closed the Strait of Hormuz following American and Israeli attacks. The port of Yanbu serves as the largest alternative solution for the Saudi oil industry to bypass the closure of this vital waterway.
The pipeline that connects the oil fields in the east of the Kingdom to the port of Yanbu has an operational capacity of up to 7 million barrels per day. Approximately two million barrels per day of this amount are allocated for local consumption within the Kingdom.
Pumping operations reached their maximum capacity (7 million barrels per day) at the end of last March, and exports then reached 5 million barrels per day, according to a person familiar with the matter. However, shipping data indicates that this level only lasted for a few days, and that export flows over longer periods were less than that.
The shipments were also partially affected by a drone attack targeting one of the 11 pumping stations along the 746-kilometer length of the pipeline. The attack caused a temporary decrease in the operational capacity of the line by about 700,000 barrels per day, before the damage was quickly repaired.
"Bloomberg" indicated the possibility that some oil tankers may have turned off their digital transmitting and receiving devices to avoid detection by unwanted entities, leading to a decrease in the number of registered shipments and thereby underestimating the real volume of exports.
