Saudi Arabia is offering more crude oil to Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers off Oman’s Sohar port after drone attacks damaged its key East-West pipeline to the Red Sea, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Saudi Aramco has offered Arab Light, Arab Medium and Arab Heavy crude to Asian term buyers for loading off Sohar, which lies outside the Strait of Hormuz, the sources said. Aramco has made at least two similar offers in recent weeks.
The move comes after Saudi Arabia shut its East-West pipeline on Friday following attacks that damaged the route, which transports crude from the kingdom’s eastern oil fields to the Red Sea.
Saudi crude loadings at the Gulf ports of Ras Tanura and Juaymah have also doubled over the past week to about 4 million barrels per day, according to satellite tracking cited by Reuters.
Four very large crude carriers capable of carrying a combined 8 million barrels were loading at Ras Tanura on Wednesday, ship-tracking data showed.
Saudi Arabia has also suspended loadings at its Red Sea port of Yanbu, while some European customers have been informed of cancellations for September cargoes, according to trading and shipping sources.
