Saudi Arabia Plans to Lift Oil Export Capacity to 10 Million Barrels Per Day by 2029

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman announced a plan to expand the Kingdom's crude oil export capacity to as much as 10 million barrels per day by 2029, part of an effort to diversify export routes away from the Strait of Hormuz, in remarks at the World Petroleum Congress in Riyadh.

The plan includes temporarily repurposing a gas pipeline to carry crude, which could add about 1.2 million barrels per day of export capacity within seven to eight weeks, with up to three million barrels per day in total possible through further investment, according to International Finance.

The minister said the Kingdom has instructed Aramco to use the pipeline until May, as the move follows an attack on the East-West pipeline that disrupted Saudi crude shipments through the Red Sea and pushed the company to load more from Gulf terminals.

Separately, Aramco set its November official selling price (OSP) for flagship Arab Light at five dollars a barrel below the average of Oman and Dubai prices, a near six-year low, while Asian refiners bought at least 12 million barrels of Saudi crude for November, the outlet reported, citing Reuters.

What Do These Terms Mean?

Export Capacity: The maximum volume of oil a country can export per day through its ports and pipelines.

Official Selling Price (OSP): The price a national oil company sets for selling crude to its customers, serving as a benchmark for pricing monthly cargoes.

Strait of Hormuz: A narrow waterway in the Gulf through which a large share of global oil exports passes; any disruption there raises shipping costs and affects prices.