Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports plummeted to 4.974 million barrels per day (bpd) in March, marking the lowest level on record since the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) began tracking the data. According to official figures released on May 20, 2026, and cited by Reuters, shipments from the world’s top oil exporter dropped sharply by 31.6% month-on-month from the 7.276 million bpd recorded in February.
Saudi production in March clocked in at 6.967 million bpd, down from 10.882 million bpd in February, also the lowest on record, as the war in Iran disrupted operations. Refinery throughput fell by 746,000 bpd, down to 2.266 million bpd, while direct crude burning increased by 82,000 bpd to reach 330,000 bpd.
The Middle East conflict has heavily choked off commercial tanker flows moving out of the Persian Gulf. With the Strait of Hormuz facing shipping blockades, Saudi Arabia activated its emergency protocol and pushed the East-West pipeline (Petroline) to its maximum operational rate of 7 million bpd. This allows Saudi Aramco to reroute crude from eastern fields to the Red Sea terminal at Yanbu, keeping ~5% of its total export volume flowing to global markets despite the Strait of Hormuz blockade.
However, the East-West pipeline faces considerable export limitations. Whereas the pipeline can handle 7 million bpd across the Arabian desert, port logistics at Yanbu restrict crude volumes that can actually be placed on tankers, with 2 million bpd siphoned off to supply local Saudi refineries such as Samref in Yanbu, leaving just 5 million bpd designated for global exports via Yanbu’s North and South terminals.
Indeed, Yanbu’s nominal loading capacity and berthing space is closer to 4 million to 4.5 million bpd, falling short of the volumes that transit the pipeline. To compound matters, tankers sailing from the Red Sea port of Yanbu to Asian markets such as India, China and Japan must take longer routes through the Bab el-Mandeb strait and around the Arabian Peninsula, significantly increasing shipping times and costs compared to direct Gulf departures.
By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com
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