Securing the Flow: Saudi Arabia's Ambitious Land Pipeline Expansion
At the 25th World Petroleum Congress, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman unveiled a strategic masterplan. Saudi Arabia aims to boost its land-based oil pipeline capacity bypassing the Persian Gulf to 10 million barrels per day within the next two to three years. This figure nearly equals the Kingdom's total peacetime crude output, signaling a fundamental shift in its export security strategy.
The East-West Pipeline: Pushing Existing Limits
Currently, Saudi Arabia's primary alternative to the Strait of Hormuz is the East-West Pipeline. Spanning 1,200 kilometers across the country, it directly transports crude from the eastern core producing areas to the Yanbu port on the Red Sea coast. With an initial designed capacity of 7 million barrels per day, its actual throughput had reached 5.8 million barrels per day by early October, with approximately 4.5 million barrels loaded for export at Yanbu. This pipeline is now a critical artery for the Kingdom's energy security.
Contingency Plan: Leveraging Existing Infrastructure
Alongside long-term plans, Saudi Arabia has prepared rapid-response measures. A technical evaluation indicates that an existing main natural gas pipeline could be adapted in just seven to eight weeks to temporarily carry about 1.2 million barrels of crude per day. With additional investment in pumping stations and compressors, its temporary potential could rise to 3 million barrels per day.
According to reports, Saudi Aramco plans to temporarily convert this pipeline for crude transport until around May next year. Afterwards, to meet surging domestic demand for gas-powered summer cooling, the line will be shut down, cleaned, and switched back to natural gas service.
The Strategic Imperative: From Production to Passage Security
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser has previously stated that the company could ramp up production to 12 million barrels per day within days if the market required it. This highlights that Saudi Arabia's constraint is not its reserves or extraction capabilities.
The real vulnerability lies in the safety and predictability of its export routes. Although Middle Eastern crude shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have recently recovered to around 12 million barrels per day (about 80% of pre-war levels), frequent attacks on commercial vessels have driven war risk insurance premiums higher and created persistent friction for offshore ship-to-ship transfers.
Therefore, massively investing in land pipelines to reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz is a necessary move for Saudi Arabia to safeguard its economic lifeline and hedge against geopolitical instability.