The East-West Pipeline, or Petroline, carries Saudi crude across the peninsula to Yanbu on the Red Sea

Background

Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, also known as Petroline, carries crude oil from the Eastern Province across the country to Yanbu on the Red Sea. Britannica records that Petroline was completed in 1981 from Al-Jubayl on the Persian Gulf to Yanbu, shortening the distance to Europe and avoiding navigation through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. The Express Tribune describes it as about 1,200 km long, running from Abqaiq to Yanbu and lying entirely within Saudi territory. It is operated by Aramco, the state energy company. Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister said in October 2026 that the line began under King Fahd in the early 1980s and was expanded to 5 million barrels per day after directives issued in the 1990s; The Express Tribune puts its current maximum capacity at about 7 million barrels per day. The pipeline is in the news because Saudi Arabia now plans to raise its capacity to about 10 million barrels per day.