Saudi Aramco Initiates Preliminary Design for East-West Pipeline Expansion

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 3, Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) launched preliminary engineering design for the East-West Pipeline expansion project, studying an increase in the pipeline's existing transportation capacity of 7 million barrels per day to 10 million barrels per day, while simultaneously conducting engineering studies for additional export pipeline networks. The company presented the relevant progress during its third-quarter earnings conference call, noting that the expansion work remains in the preliminary engineering phase and that no final investment decision has yet been made.

Saudi Aramco is conducting capacity expansion engineering studies for crude oil transportation facilities leading to the Red Sea coast, involving the existing East-West Pipeline and associated pipeline networks. During the earnings conference, company CEO Amin Nasser stated that work related to the East-West Pipeline expansion and new network has been initiated, with plans to increase the scale of crude oil delivered to international markets via western Saudi Arabia.

The company is also conducting engineering studies for other crude oil export routes. Existing export arrangements include transportation of crude oil through channels such as the Persian Gulf, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the Suez Canal. Among these, Egypt's SUMED pipeline and Suezmax tankers are also components of current export transportation arrangements. The new export routes remain in the engineering assessment phase, and specific plans await investment decisions.

Saudi Aramco is simultaneously studying ways to increase crude oil storage capacity in major oil-consuming markets and along export routes, and continues to utilize Persian Gulf export terminals and ship-to-ship transfer methods to deliver crude oil to customers. The company plans to enhance crude oil export allocation capacity by expanding existing infrastructure and overseas storage facilities.

At the November 3 earnings conference, Saudi Aramco also disclosed that during the current regional trade disruption, approximately 15 days of economic benefit generated by the East-West Pipeline is equivalent to its entire construction cost. The pipeline has continued to transport crude oil to Red Sea export facilities after Saudi crude oil export transportation was disrupted.