Saudi Arabia on Monday said it plans to increase its crude oil export capacity through pipelines up to 10 million barrels per day by converting a domestic gas pipeline for oil shipments and upgrading its existing East-West network.Energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the kingdom could add up to 1.2 million barrels per day of export capacity within seven to eight weeks by temporarily repurposing a gas pipeline to transport crude oil.Further investments could increase the additional capacity to as much as 3 million barrels per day, Abdulaziz said at the World Petroleum Congress in Riyadh.The minister said he had authorised Saudi Aramco to use the pipeline for oil transport until May. It would then need to be cleaned and restored to gas service ahead of the summer season.Upgrades to pumping stations along the East-West pipeline, along with other infrastructure projects, could help Saudi Arabia raise its capacity to redirect shipments from its main maritime routes in the Gulf and Red Sea to around 10 million barrels per day over the next two to three years, Abdulaziz said.Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser said the company was examining additional routes for crude oil exports and working to expand its overseas storage capacity.Oil exports from the Middle East have largely recovered to pre-war levels as tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has increased, Reuters reported.Data from Kpler showed that total crude oil and condensate exports from the region, excluding Iran, averaged 18.11 million tonnes a week in September. This compared with a weekly average of around 18.22 million tonnes during the eight weeks before the conflict with Iran began at the end of February.However, fuel exports from the Middle East remain below half their pre-war levels because of damage to regional refineries.
