Saudi East-West Pipeline volumes building, tanker loading delayed - sources

OSLO/LONDON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is building up crude pumping volumes through its East-West Pipeline that runs to its Red Sea export hub of Yanbu, although crude tanker loadings have yet to resume, according to industry sources, satellite imagery and shipping data.

Saudi Arabia resumed operations on the pipeline this week after a drone attack shut the facility earlier this month, adding to hopes of an increase in oil flows from the Middle East disrupted by the US-Iran war. The latest comments and data suggest slower progress in resuming shipments, given that loading had been scheduled for Tuesday.

Crude is heading through the pipeline into Saudi Arabia's refineries on the Red Sea coast, an industry source said, although crude loading has yet to resume into tankers. Two other sources also said tanker loading has yet to resume.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Aramco has told European refiners the company is still building a 'critical mass' of volumes at Yanbu before it resumes crude deliveries, another source said. Specialists need to undertake pressure tests to enable oil to start to build up through the pipeline, which is expected to take days, a security source said.

The latest Copernicus Sentinel satellite imagery, taken on Tuesday afternoon, showed a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) berthed at Yanbu's North Terminal and a Suezmax tanker at the South Terminal, also known as Al Muajjiz.

Data from commodities intelligence firm Kpler shows around six crude tankers are due to load at Yanbu from September 24-27 - four Aframaxes, one Suezmax and one VLCC. Two ships that were due to load on September 23 did not load, the data showed.

Drone attacks, which Saudi Arabia has blamed on Iraqi militia, forced the kingdom to shut the pipeline on September 11, halting crude loadings at Yanbu.

Saudi Arabia restarted operations on the East-West Pipeline on Tuesday, three sources familiar with the matter said, although it may take six weeks or more for the system to return to full capacity.

Since the conflict in the Middle East disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, Riyadh has rerouted about 4 million barrels per day of crude via the East-West Pipeline to Yanbu, equivalent to about 4% of global supply.

Three pumping stations serving the pipeline were damaged in the September 11 drone attacks, according to satellite imagery and industry sources.