Saudi Arabia Secures Overland Oil Routes as Hormuz Strait Toll Becomes Reality

Saudi Arabia is pumping the Petroline (East-West pipeline) at its full 7 million bpd capacity, routing crude 750 miles to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Crude exports via Yanbu have reached roughly 5 million bpd, with another 700-900K bpd in refined products. The capacity ramp acknowledges the Strait closure as sustained rather than temporary, but only partly offsets the 15 million bpd that transited Hormuz before the war. Iran continues exporting its own oil through the Strait at near-prewar volumes while blocking allied traffic.