Saudi Arabia has resumed operations on its East-West oil pipeline after it was shut down earlier this month following drone attacks.

The 4 million barrels-per-day pipeline is currently operating at a reduced rate as Saudi Aramco works to gradually restore crude flows to full capacity. The complete restart could take several weeks, according to sources cited in the report.

The pipeline transports crude across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, providing an alternative route for moving oil without relying heavily on shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Its shutdown had forced Aramco to redirect more crude towards the Persian Gulf, increasing the amount of oil dependent on the strategically important waterway.

The resumption of operations has already influenced oil prices. Brent crude fell by more than $2 per barrel on Tuesday to around $98, its lowest level in two weeks, while West Texas Intermediate crude dropped below $92 before recovering some of its losses.

A crude cargo was also scheduled to load at Yanbu for China, signalling that the restart could begin easing some of the supply disruptions caused by the pipeline closure.

The outage had affected Saudi crude supplies to European customers, with Aramco reportedly informing some European term buyers that they would receive no crude allocations for October. Supplies normally transported from Yanbu through Egypt’s SUMED pipeline system to the Mediterranean were also disrupted.