Saudi Arabia offers oil to Asian refineries via Oman
Saudi Arabia is offering Asian refineries additional crude oil cargoes with ship-to-ship transfers near the port of Sohar in Oman. According to Channel NewsAsia, this route is being used after drone attacks damaged the country’s key oil pipeline to the Red Sea.
Transfers near Sohar
State oil company Saudi Aramco has offered its long-term buyers in Asia Arab Light, Arab Medium and Arab Heavy grades for loading near Sohar, sources familiar with the matter said. Sohar is located outside the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the sources, Aramco has made similar offers to Asian buyers for Arab Medium and Arab Heavy grades at least twice in recent weeks. The company declined to comment, while the buyers asked to remain unnamed because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Loading in the Persian Gulf
According to satellite data from consultancy Energy Aspects, Saudi Arabia doubled daily oil loadings at the Ras Tanura and Juaymah terminals in the Persian Gulf during the previous week, to about two very large crude carriers, or 4 million barrels. Separate data from Kpler showed that on Wednesday, September 16, four very large crude carriers with a combined capacity of 8 million barrels were loading at Ras Tanura.
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As CNA notes, other producers from Persian Gulf countries are also offering more oil for loading outside the Strait of Hormuz. To transport it through the strait, they use vessels that, according to sources, often travel with their tracking signals switched off.
Delays and cargo cancellations
According to CNA, Saudi Arabia relied on the East-West oil pipeline to direct oil to the Red Sea port of Yanbu after the war with Iran significantly restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. After the pipeline was damaged in drone attacks, the kingdom halted its operation on Friday. CNA reports that this pushed global oil prices to multi-month highs this week.
At least one Asian buyer of cargoes scheduled for loading in September received notification from Aramco of delays and the rescheduling of shipments from Yanbu. Traders and shipping industry sources also told CNA that Saudi Arabia informed European clients about the cancellation of some oil cargoes scheduled for September loading, while loadings in Yanbu have been suspended.
