Saudi Arabia restarts East-West pipeline, expects Yanbu loadings to resume this week

Saudi Arabia now expects crude loadings at Yanbu port to resume this week. Trade sources had earlier said exports would restart later on Tuesday, after last week's pipeline damage.

The pipeline was damaged last week, cutting off the flow of crude to Yanbu, one of Saudi Arabia's main export terminals on the Red Sea. The disruption came amid a wider pattern of Houthi attacks on Saudi territory. The US Mission in Saudi Arabia has limited staff travel to Taif and Yanbu, requiring special authorization because of those attacks.

Brent crude rose 1 per cent on Sunday after a Houthi attack on the Saudi capital, reversing a week of declines that had followed news of pipeline repairs and Omani-mediated truce talks. An explosion was also reported in Sanaa, Yemen, on Sunday, according to Osintdefender, part of a continuing exchange of strikes between the two sides. Brent was trading near $105 a barrel at the time, as Saudi Arabia worked to restore the pipeline. On Monday, a Houthi leader said the group was ready for what he called a fair deal to end the conflict with Saudi Arabia. Separately on Monday, Saudi Arabia lifted Gulf oil loadings as output from Libya's Sharara field fell to about 127,000 barrels a day after a different pipeline shutdown there.

The restart eases the immediate supply pinch caused by last week's damage, but it does not change the broader risk. Houthi attacks remain ongoing and unpredictable, Saudi export capacity is still well below normal, and tensions in the region persist despite mediation efforts. For now, this is relief, not resolution.