Saudi Arabia Restarts East-West Pipeline After Drone Strikes; Brent Falls Below $97

Saudi Arabia restarted its East-West Pipeline on Sept. 22 and may resume crude loadings from the Red Sea port of Yanbu later the same day, according to Reuters. State oil firm Saudi Aramco did not respond to a request for comment. The line is running well below normal throughput. Reaching 40% of capacity would take about two days, while a full return is expected in six to eight weeks, sources said. Aramco is targeting 4 million barrels per day, the pre-shutdown rate; capacity is 7 million bpd. The restart pushed Brent crude down more than $2 a barrel toward $97, its lowest since Sept. 8. Satellite imagery and industry sources identified three of the pipeline's 11 pumping stations as damaged in the drone strikes, which Riyadh blamed on Iraqi militia. The pipeline had been offline since Sept. 11, when attacks halted Yanbu loadings. One cargo was scheduled to load at Yanbu on Sept. 22 bound for China. Traders positioned tankers at Egypt's Port Said and Sidi Kerir for ship-to-ship transfers.