Saudi Arabia ramps oil exports via Mediterranean pipeline to avoid Red Sea attacks

Saudi Aramco is rerouting crude oil exports through Egypt’s SUMED pipeline to the Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, a significant logistical pivot designed to sidestep escalating Houthi threats in the Red Sea. The move adds cost, complexity, and transit time to one of the world’s most critical energy supply chains. Aramco began offering spot crude cargoes from Sidi Kerir in July 2026, shortly after the Houthis announced a maritime embargo targeting Saudi shipping around July 20. For the world’s largest oil exporter, the calculus was straightforward: better to pay more for a safe route than risk tankers in hostile waters. The pipeline math The SUMED pipeline, which runs roughly 200 miles across Egypt from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean coast, can handle about 2.5 million barrels per day. That’s a meaningful amount of capacity, but it’s not enough to absorb everything Saudi Arabia would typically push through the Red Sea. Earlier in 2026, the kingdom had already begun leaning on a different piece of infrastructure: the East-West Pipeline, also known as the Petroline. That system carries crude and refined products from eastern Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, and refined e...