The redirecting of crude through the East-West pipeline to Yanbu was initially viewed as a tactical safeguard against instability in the Persian Gulf. However, Wood Mackenzie data indicates that the volume of oil moving through this Red Sea hub has steadily eroded from a March peak of 4.07 million barrels per day. The current output represents a 66% drop compared to the total Saudi export levels recorded in January.

Ian Solis, a data analyst at Wood Mackenzie, warned that the strategy merely swapped one strategic bottleneck for another. While markets once considered Yanbu the definitive answer to Hormuz-related risks, the terminal now faces the reality of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. If Houthi naval blockades persist, Asia faces the loss of a primary energy artery. The situation escalated this week as Houthi forces claimed to have struck two Saudi tankers, signaling that the kingdom's reliance on Red Sea transit routes is increasingly fragile in an active war zone.