A Picture Worth a Thousand Words: Saudi Crude Exports from Western Ports Continue to Rise

The map below shows the pipelines built to bypass the Strait of Hormuz: In Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, and Iraq.

Figure 1 highlights the sharp increase in Saudi crude exports to Asia from Western ports in recent weeks. Several media outlets and social media pundits have argued that Saudi efforts to redirect oil from east to west are falling short, noting that the increase is only about 3 mb/d, compared to Saudi exports of nearly 7 mb/d before the crisis. This is the wrong way to look at it. The comparison itself is flawed. The correct benchmark is to compare the increase of 3 mb/d to zero. Without these east-to-west pipelines, Saudi exports would have been zero.