Saudi oil exports surge despite pipeline closure and Iran conflict

Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports have surged this month despite a sharp escalation in fighting with Iran-backed militants, according to data from the trade intelligence firm Kpler.

Riyadh is exporting 6 million barrels per day in September, the highest level since the Iran war began about seven months ago. The kingdom's crude shipments have recovered to the monthly average of 2025.

The Saudis have managed to ramp up exports even after they closed the critical East-West oil pipeline this month due to damage it sustained in a drone attack launched from Iraq. Shipments in September have surged nearly 80% over the 3.4 million bpd of crude exported in August.

The pipeline has acted as a crucial relief valve for the oil market during the Iran war. It allowed the Saudis to bypass the Strait of Hormuz as Iran attacked tankers transiting those waters. Riyadh shifted exports from its oil-producing regions in the east through the pipeline to the Red Sea terminal of Yanbu.

Brent crude oil jumped to nearly $110 per barrel after the pipeline shut, but prices have pulled back as investor confidence grows that the outage has been less disruptive than originally feared.

The Saudis have redirected crude oil exports back through Hormuz as the U.S. military has carved out a shipping lane along Oman's coast. The other Gulf states have relied on this route for months now, though the journey remains dangerous as Iran continues to attack tankers transiting the strait.

"The ramp-up from the Mideast Gulf is a consequence of the pipeline outage, but it likely also signals a greater confidence in using the Strait of Hormuz given rising traffic," said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at Kpler.

Oil exports through Hormuz reached a seven-day average of 13.2 million bpd on Wednesday, compared with around 17 million bpd before the Iran war disrupted traffic, according Kpler data.

Industry sources told Reuters that the East-West pipeline restarted at low volumes earlier this week and is now ramping up. Saudi Arabia has not publicly confirmed that the pipeline has restarted.

But Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told the Japanese newspaper Nikkei on Thursday that "temporary interruptions" to oil infrastructure last "usually for days, not weeks or months ... on every occasion." Nasser declined to give a specific update on the pipeline.