Saudi Arabia Plans to Expand Crude Oil Pipeline Capacity to 10 Million Barrels per Day

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 12, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman stated at the World Petroleum Congress held in Riyadh that Saudi Arabia is studying the expansion of crude oil pipeline transportation capacity, planning to increase the relevant transportation capacity to 10 million barrels per day within the next two to three years through temporary conversion of domestic natural gas pipelines, upgrading the East-West Pipeline and supporting infrastructure. According to the currently proposed plan, additional investment could add up to 3 million barrels per day of transportation capacity.

The first-phase plan involves temporarily converting an existing natural gas pipeline for crude oil transportation. Abdulaziz bin Salman stated that this conversion is expected to add 1.2 million barrels per day of crude oil transportation capacity within 7 to 8 weeks. The Saudi government has made arrangements with Saudi Aramco regarding the temporary use of the pipeline, allowing the company to use the relevant facilities for oil transportation until May 2027, after which the pipeline must be cleaned and its natural gas transportation function restored to meet summer natural gas supply demand.

Medium- and long-term capacity expansion work will focus on the existing East-West Pipeline, with key aspects including upgrading pump stations along the route and related infrastructure. The pipeline connects major crude oil production facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia with Yanbu on the Red Sea coast, with an existing maximum design transportation capacity of approximately 7 million barrels per day and a total length of approximately 1,200 kilometers. The expansion plan will utilize the existing pipeline network and supporting facilities, and consider further enhancing the capacity to transport crude oil toward the Red Sea.

The Saudi Energy Minister announced on October 6 that the East-West Pipeline had at that time restored its operating capacity of 5.8 million barrels per day. The pipeline had previously been suspended due to an attack on related facilities on September 11, and subsequently gradually resumed oil transportation. This round of expansion targets a capacity higher than the existing maximum design capacity, involving renovation of the existing pipeline network and additional infrastructure investment.

Abdulaziz bin Salman also proposed expanding international participation in the East-West Pipeline project, considering bringing in more investors, operators, design institutions, and financiers.