Riyadh (TDI): Saudi Arabia is offering additional crude oil cargoes to Asian refiners for loading through ship-to-ship transfers off Oman’s Sohar port, as the kingdom seeks alternative routes after drone attacks damaged its key East-West pipeline to the Red Sea, Reuters reported citing people familiar with the matter.
Saudi Aramco has offered its flagship Arab Light crude, along with Arab Medium and Arab Heavy grades, to term buyers in Asia for loading off Sohar, which lies outside the Strait of Hormuz, according to the sources.
The offers suggest Aramco is seeking to move a larger share of its crude out of the Gulf for onward shipment beyond the strategic waterway. The company has made at least two similar offers of Arab Medium and Arab Heavy to Asian buyers in recent weeks.
Saudi Arabia has also sharply increased crude loadings from its Ras Tanura and Juaymah terminals inside the Gulf over the past week.
Satellite tracking by consultancy Energy Aspects showed daily loadings had doubled to the equivalent of around two very large crude carriers, or approximately four million barrels.
Separate data from ship-tracking company Kpler showed four VLCCs, with a combined capacity of around eight million barrels, loading at Ras Tanura on Wednesday.
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The increased loadings and additional cargoes offered outside the Strait of Hormuz come as other Gulf producers also seek alternative arrangements to move crude beyond the strategic waterway.
Sources said some producers have secured vessels to shuttle supplies through the Strait, with tracking signals often switched off. The buyers familiar with the Saudi offers declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak publicly.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has increasingly relied on its East-West pipeline to transport crude to Yanbu on the Red Sea for export, particularly after the war involving Iran sharply restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The kingdom shut the pipeline on Friday after it was damaged in drone attacks, disrupting a major alternative route for Saudi crude and contributing to a rise in global oil benchmarks to multi-month highs this week.
At least one Asian buyer with cargoes scheduled for loading this month said it received a notice from Aramco that shipments from Yanbu would be delayed and rescheduled. The notice did not specify how long the delays would last.
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Saudi Arabia also informed European customers that some September-loading crude cargoes would be cancelled, while loadings at Yanbu had been suspended, according to trading and shipping sources.
The developments highlight the growing pressure on Gulf oil exporters to maintain crude flows as attacks on energy infrastructure and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz create additional challenges for global supply chains.
