Saudi Arabia plans oil pipeline capacity of up to 10 million barrels a day, with a temporary gas-line conversion adding 1.2 million within weeks

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Monday that Saudi Arabia aims to raise its pipeline crude-export capacity to as much as 10 million barrels per day by converting a domestic gas pipeline for oil and investing in the existing East-West network.

The temporary conversion could add 1.2 million barrels per day of export capacity within seven to eight weeks, Abdulaziz said at the World Petroleum Congress in Riyadh. Further investment could add another 3 million barrels per day, he said.

The minister said he had instructed state-owned Saudi Aramco to use the gas pipeline to transport crude until May. It must then be cleaned and returned to gas service before the summer season.

The plans follow the East-West oil pipeline’s temporary closure in September after a drone attack. The 1,200-kilometre route carries crude across the Arabian Peninsula and offers an export corridor that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz. On October 6, the energy minister said its operational capacity had been restored to 5.8 million barrels per day.