Saudi Arabia is the world's largest (net) oil exporter and is a key oil supplier to the United States, Europe and Asia. Saudi Aramco’s plans to increase marketed oil production in the medium term hinges on the maintenance and expansion of the petroleum pipeline network, export facilities, and shipping capacity.

In 2006, Saudi Arabia exported an estimated 8.5 million bbl/d of petroleum liquids, the majority of which was crude oil. For 2007, EIA estimated that exports fell to 7.9 million bbl/d, of which approximately 85 percent was crude, 10 percent was NGLs and five percent was refined product.

Asia, including Japan, South Korea, China, and India, now receives an estimated 50 percent of Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports, as well as the majority of its refined petroleum product and NLG exports. Japan remains the single largest importer of Saudi crude in Asia. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2007, Japan imported an estimated 1.3 million bbl/d on average. In the same year, South Korea’s imports from Saudi decreased by about 70,000 bbl/d to approximately 790,000 bbl/d.

China’s imports continue to fluctuate widely. In 1995, Saudi Arabia was the 25th largest supplier of crude oil to China; while in 2007, Saudi Arabia was China’s largest crude oil supplier (competing with Iran, Angola and Oman). In 2007, China imported approximately 520,000 bbl/d from Saudi Arabia. Trade press indicates that China boosted contracted oil purchases from Saudi Arabia by 38 percent for 2008, rising to approximately 790,000 bbl/d. China and Saudi Arabia recently signed a MoU which indicates that imports could rise to 1 million bbl/d by 2010.

In 2006 and 2007, Saudi Arabia exported an average of 1.46 million and 1.49 million bbl/d of crude oil respectively to the United States, accounting for 12 percent of U.S. crude oil imports. For this time period, Saudi Arabia ranked third (after Canada, Mexico,) as a source of oil imports to the United States.

The following series of graphs break out the percentage of exports by destination for the three main categories of oil exports.

Saudi Arabia has three primary oil export terminals:

These and a dozen other smaller terminals throughout the country, appear capable of exporting a 14-15 million bbl/d of crude and refined products, around four million bbl/d higher than Saudi Arabia’s current crude oil production capacity.

Saudi Aramco operates more than 9000 miles of petroleum pipelines throughout the county, including two major pipelines. The 745-mile, 5 million-bbl/d East-West Crude Oil Pipeline (Petroline), has been operated by Saudi Aramco since 1984 (when it took over from Mobil), and is used mainly to transport Arabian Light and Super Light from Abqaiq refineries in the Eastern Province and to Red Sea terminals (Yanbu’) for export to European markets. Reportedly, the Saudis expanded the Petroline in part to maintain Yanbu’ as a strategic option to Gulf port facilities in the event that exports were blocked from passing through the Straits of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. The Petroline is utilized at less than half capacity, as shipments from Yanbu’ add up to five days roundtrip travel time for tankers through the Bab al-Mandab strait to major customers in Asia. Also built in the 1980s was a 236-mile multi-products line between Dhahran in the Eastern Province and Riyadh and a 220-mile smaller multi-product line between Riyadh and Qassim to the north.

Running parallel to the Petroline is the 290,000-bbl/d Abqaiq-Yanbu’ natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline, which serves Yanbu's petrochemical plants. A $500 million contract to install three NGL pipeline loop lines on the Shedgum-Yanbu section of the trunk line, when completed between 2008 and 2009, will increase capacity to 555,000 b/d (SHY-1 expansion). The current capacity is 425,000 b/d. There are also six smaller pipelines that make up the Uthmaniya - Abqaiq pipeline complex.

To support increased export capacity, Aramco has announced the construction of more than 830 miles of new oil, natural gas and NGL pipelines of varying sizes and lengths by 2009. The biggest development will extend to the 1.2 million-b/d Khurais redevelopment, which will require a 400 to 500-mile network in the Eastern Province. The Manifa development has a planned installation of 221 miles of pipeline (gas and crude/condensate).

Saudi Aramco does not operate any major functioning international pipelines. The Trans-Arabian Pipeline (Tapline) from Qaisumah to Sidon, Lebanon, completed in 1974, has been mothballed, in part, since 1984 (the portion to Jordan was closed in 1990, through there has been talk of reopening this portion). Also, a 1.65 million-bbl/d, 48-inch Iraqi Pipeline across Saudi Arabia (IPSA), which runs parallel to the Petroline from pump station #3 (there are 11 pumping stations along the Petroline) to the port of Mu'ajjiz, just south of Yanbu, was built in 1989, but closed indefinitely following the August 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. In June 2001, Saudi Arabia seized ownership of IPSA. Theoretically, IPSA could be used for Saudi oil transport to the Red Sea, although the Saudis have reported that the pipeline has been converted to carry gas as part of the Master Gas System.

The only functioning international crude carrier is a 60-year old complex of four small submarine pipelines carrying Arabian Light crude from the Abu Saafra and Dammam fields to Bahrain. The pipelines range from 207,000 to 250,000 bbl/d capacity. Reportedly, this aging pipeline will be decommissioned after the construction of the “New Arabia” pipeline, a 71-mile, 350,000-450,000-bbl/d capacity feed running between Abqaiq and Bahrain’s refinery at Sitra. The pipeline will be built by local contractors, and is expected to come online in 2008. Despite excess pipeline capacity, the Saudis reportedly are planning to conduct a feasibility study on construction of an oil pipeline from the Empty Quarter of southeastern Saudi Arabia through the Hadramaut in Yemen and the Arabian Sea (as additional strategic alternatives to the Straits of Hormuz), although details of the proposed project were not available.

Saudi Aramco's shipping subsidiary Vela International Marine Ltd. operates the sixth largest fleet of supertankers in the world, including 19 VLCCs (very large crude carriers) and five product tankers. (Vela also contracts several dozen tankers in addition to their in-house fleet). Industry sources report that Vela commissioned six additional VLCCs from South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Company in 2007. Two of four VLCCs were delivered in June 2008, and the final four ships will be delivered by 2009. The VLCC is designed to transport between 200,000 - 320,000 dead weight tonnage (dwt) or up to two million barrels of crude oil (per voyage). According to the Saudi Aramco website, the total loading capacity is approximately 7.5 million tons and the fleet carries a significant proportion of Saudi oil exports. Vela transports approximately 3 million bbl/d, more than 80% internationally.

The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA) fleet has a total of nine VLCC's, totaling, including two vessels delivered in 2007. According to industry sources, NSCSA, through its subsidiaries, National Chemical Carriers and Arabian Chemical Carriers, the company owns 14 chemical tankers, plus an extra four container vessels for a total of 27 vessels. NSCSA is a public company, although the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of the Saudi government holds 28 percent, while the remaining 72 percent is publicly traded. It was reported that the company plans to expand the VLCC fleet to 17 vessels, and has signed contracts for taking delivery of eight VLCCs during 2007 and 2009. NSCSA also contracted six new chemical carriers, of which the delivery is expected to start from the year 2009.

In addition to tankers, Aramco owns or leases oil storage facilities around the world, in places like Rotterdam, Sidi Kerir (the Sumed pipeline terminal on Egypt's Mediterranean coast), South Korea, the Philippines, and the Caribbean.