Aramco west coast pipeline to hit maximum capacity ‘in days’

• CEO pledges to meet ‘full requirements’
• Pipeline capacity is 7 million bpd
• 2025 net profit down $12bn

Saudi Aramco’s oil pipeline to the kingdom’s west coast will be operating at maximum capacity “in a couple of days”, its chief executive said on Tuesday, pledging to meet customers’ “full requirements” despite the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The conflict pitting Iran against the US and Israel has led Tehran to in effect close the strait, through which about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies are transported – including most of Aramco’s output.

Saudi Arabia’s oil fields are in the country’s east, both offshore and onshore. Last year Aramco exported 6.2 million barrels per day (bpd) through the strait, according to the International Energy Agency. 

Its pipeline from the east coast to the west enables crude exports to depart through the Red Sea as well.

The pipeline will reach full capacity “in a couple of days” although this partly depends on tankers “repositioning” to the Red Sea, Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, told an analysts’ call on Tuesday.

He was speaking after the company reported its 2025 results. Net profit for the year fell 12 percent to SAR348 billion ($93 billion), from SAR394 billion ($105 billion) in 2024.

Fourth-quarter net profit was $18.5 billion, down from $23.1 billion in the prior-year period, according to AGBI calculations.

Overall revenue fell to $416 billion, from $437 billion. The company said the drop in oil prices was partially offset by increased oil production.

The Aramco pipeline, which has a capacity of 7 million bpd, was carrying 2.8 million bpd before the start of the Iran war, Nasser told the analysts’ call.

About 2 million bpd of oil sent through it goes to west coast refineries. So, Aramco will export 5 million bpd from the west coast once the pipeline reaches full capacity.

Aramco will focus on production from its lower-cost onshore fields, according to Nasser. These produce light and extra-light crude, which are easier to transport through the pipeline than the medium and heavy crude extracted from its offshore fields.

Oil prices averaged $63 in the fourth quarter of 2025, down from $74 in the prior-year period. Saudi Arabia’s crude production averaged about 10 billion bpd in the fourth quarter, up from 9 million bpd in the prior-year period, according to Opec data.

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