Saudi Arabia Denies Buying 25 Tankers Cited in Iraqi Oil Transport Claims
RIYADH, September 23, 2026 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) — Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy denied buying 25 oil tankers after Iraqi officials linked a reported purchase to higher costs for transporting Iraqi oil.
The ministry was responding to remarks by Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair Al-Abbadi and Ali Nizar Al-Shatari, chairman and director general of Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil, during a session of the Iraqi Council of Representatives.
Saudi Arabia had not purchased the 25 tankers cited by the officials, the ministry said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
The ministry attributed the sharp rise in regional oil shipping costs to military escalation, attacks on vessels that it said Iran had publicly announced, and disruption to navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. It also cited higher shipping risks and insurance costs, and fewer tankers willing to operate in the region.
Those conditions had pushed regional shipping costs to exceptional levels, the ministry said, rejecting the claim that a Saudi tanker purchase had contributed to higher transport costs for Iraqi oil.
The ministry added that its denial did not affect Saudi Arabia’s right to make commercial and investment decisions according to its needs and interests.
Source: SPA
