How Saudi Arabia Moves Oil Without the Strait of Hormuz: The Petroline East-West Pipeline
The Petroline — Saudi Arabia's east-west crude pipeline — carries up to 7 million barrels a day from Abqaiq to Yanbu on the Red Sea. Built in 1981 as an Iran-war hedge, it is the Kingdom's only Hormuz bypass. This is what it can and cannot do, and why the arithmetic constrains policy.
Yanbu Is Now a Single Point of Failure for Saudi Oil Exports
Yanbu handled 92% of Saudi Arabia's seaborne crude exports in June 2026 after the Strait of Hormuz closed. On 25 July the terminal complex was attacked, and the Bab al-Mandeb route beyond it was already shut. This is what the Kingdom's export chain now looks like.
Investing in Yanbu
Investment guide to Yanbu Industrial City on the Red Sea coast covering refining, manufacturing, and renewable energy.
Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu
The Saudi authority managing the development and operation of the Jubail and Yanbu industrial cities — the Kingdom's largest heavy industrial complexes.
Yanbu
An industrial port city on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, the Kingdom's primary western industrial hub for refining, petrochemicals, and export logistics.