Aramco targets raising East-West pipeline capacity to 10 million barrels per day

Key Facts

Aramco is working to raise the capacity of its East-West pipeline network to 10 million barrels per day, the company’s chief executive, Amin Nasser, said in a statement published by The Wall Street Journal on October 22, 2026. The target is above the 7 million barrels per day capacity the Associated Press said the pipeline had reached, up from 2 million barrels per day. Nasser said the company is also conducting engineering studies for additional export routes. In its third-quarter results statement, Aramco said the pipeline continued to provide export flexibility and that it was studying additional overseas storage and new routes. The available statement does not give a date for completing the engineering studies or a timeline for increasing the capacity of Aramco’s network.

Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline runs from a facility near the Gulf to the Red Sea coast, where cargoes are typically loaded onto tankers heading north through the Suez Canal or south through Bab el-Mandeb, according to the Associated Press. The pipeline is about 1,200 kilometers long, forming an overland corridor linking production areas in the Gulf with Red Sea ports. This geography matters when shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted, as the route allows crude to reach the western coast without crossing the strait. The agency said the pipeline was built in the 1980s amid concerns that Tehran could disrupt navigation through Hormuz during the Iran-Iraq war. That history links the pipeline’s current function to its original role as an alternative route for moving oil to global markets.

Capacity figures vary depending on what each source measures. The Associated Press said capacity rose from 2 million barrels to 7 million barrels per day, while the International Energy Agency says the system consists of two pipelines with a combined design capacity of 5 million barrels per day, and that Aramco reported raising capacity to 7 million in March 2025. The agency estimated that only about 2 million barrels per day of pipeline capacity was in use in early 2026, with spare capacity ranging from 3 million to 5 million barrels per day depending on operating conditions and export capacity on the western coast. This estimate suggests that an increase in nominal capacity alone does not determine how much crude can actually be diverted to ports. The International Energy Agency also said sustained flows at 7 million barrels per day had not been tested.

For flows during an earlier period, the Associated Press cited Rystad as saying that an average of 2.6 million to 4 million barrels per day had moved through the pipeline and out of Yanbu port since late August 2026, up to the closure covered by the agency’s report. This figure differs from the stated maximum capacity because it describes average actual flows over a specific period, not the pipeline’s theoretical capability. It also highlights Yanbu port’s role in turning crude into seaborne exports via the Red Sea. The ability to use the capacity depends on operating conditions on the pipeline and export capabilities on the western coast, according to the International Energy Agency’s estimate. Nasser’s reference to studies of additional routes therefore concerns the broader export network as well as the pipeline itself.

On broader infrastructure expansion, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said on October 12 that upgrades to pumping stations and other projects could raise the kingdom’s ability to divert cargoes through its overland routes to about 10 million barrels per day within two to three years. That timeframe concerns the kingdom’s ability to divert cargoes through its overland routes; it is not a date Aramco announced for completing its engineering studies. The 10 million barrels per day target provides further context for Nasser’s statement about raising the East-West pipeline network’s capacity to the same level. In its third-quarter results announcement, Aramco linked continued export flexibility to the pipeline and said it was considering additional overseas storage and new export routes. The statement did not specify when these options would be implemented or how much they would add to available capacity.