Taking lessons from the Iran war, which disrupted the energy trade through the Strait of Hormuz for well over three months, Saudi Arabia is considering expanding the capacity of its crude oil pipeline to the western Red Sea coast, enabling the Kingdom and possibly neighbours to transport more oil without crossing the strategically sensitive maritime chokepoint.
The East-West pipeline, which was built in the early 1980s, has become a crucial energy supply lifeline since February 2026, the month in which the Iran war started, as shipping and maritime trade came to a screeching halt at the Strait of Hormuz.
The pipeline, at its current capacity, can transport up to seven million barrels per day (bpd) of crude to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. About two million bpd feed refineries on the west coast and roughly five million bpd are for export, as per the data shared by the CEO of state-backed oil company Saudi Aramco.
“The Kingdom is in preliminary talks with some of its neighbours about the potential expansion of the pipeline’s capacity by up to two million bpd. It was unclear if Aramco’s planned capacity increase would involve upgrades to existing infrastructure or construction of a new pipeline,” Reuters reported, citing sources.
The capacity increase would reportedly include a smaller second pipe for oil products.
Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar all lack routes that can bypass Hormuz while Iraq’s pipeline to Turkey, haunted by disputes and repeated shutdowns, runs well below capacity.
“We are in discussions with our brothers in Saudi Arabia and in the emirates to look at how to expand the pipeline system that they have to accommodate Kuwaiti barrels,” Kuwait Petroleum Corporation CEO Sheikh Nawaf al-Sabah told the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum in June.
“The expansion could be for one million to two million bpd, two of the sources said, with refined products also under consideration. It would take years, cost billions of dollars and require changes to Saudi crude’s pricing mechanism,” another source said.
Iran’s Hormuz blockade forced Gulf producers to shut in as much as 12 million bpd, sending global crude prices surging. While flows have resumed partially after a preliminary US-Iran deal in June, things have remained below pre-war levels.
“Iraqi output collapsed from 4.3 million bpd to less than 1.5 million bpd in May, Kuwait declared force majeure in March and Bahrain’s Sitra refinery was struck by Iranian missiles several times. The recent talks about new pipeline corridors involving Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar reflect a broader strategic reality. The conflict has focused minds regionally on the perils of relying solely on Hormuz,” said Zaid Belbagi, managing partner at London-based Hardcastle Advisory.
The UAE, which quit the OPEC in the middle of the Iran war, is the only other Gulf state with meaningful Hormuz-bypass capacity. The nation has completed half of a new West-East pipeline that will double crude capacity to Fujairah when it becomes operational in 2027. Its existing Abu Dhabi pipeline carries up to 1.8 million bpd.