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Ulviyya Poladova

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Saudi Aramco has begun work to expand its East-West oil pipeline, aiming to strengthen the kingdom's ability to transport crude oil while bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. The company expects to have the capacity to increase oil production to a maximum of 12 million barrels per day in the coming weeks.

Saudi Aramco President and CEO Amin Nasser announced the development at a press conference.

He said preliminary engineering work on the East-West pipeline expansion had begun. Nasser also noted that the company carries out emergency repairs six times faster than other companies in the energy sector.

The approximately 1,200-kilometre East-West pipeline runs from Abqaiq in eastern Saudi Arabia to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast. Its current transportation capacity is around 7 million barrels per day.

Disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Iran war have prompted Saudi Arabia to rely more heavily on alternative routes for oil exports. The East-West pipeline allows the kingdom to transport crude from its eastern oil-producing regions to Red Sea ports by land, enabling some exports to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

Following disruptions to oil flows through the strategic waterway, Saudi Aramco has been using the pipeline to redirect approximately 4 million barrels of crude oil per day to Yanbu.

Image: Ahmad El Itani/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images