Saudi Aramco resumes crude loading at Ras Tanura after months-long halt
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
RIYADH, June 26 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) — Saudi Aramco resumed crude loadings on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf after a near four-month halt, shipping data showed, as the world’s biggest oil exporter moved to restore supply flows.
Two Very Large Crude Carriers controlled by Saudi shipping firm Bahri were seen loading crude at Ras Tanura, while another waited nearby, the data showed. Each VLCC can load about 2 million barrels of oil.
The resumption comes despite renewed concern over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz after a container ship operated by Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine was hit by an unknown object on Thursday.
Middle Eastern producers had been increasing oil and gas output and exports ahead of an interim U.S.-Iran deal to halt the war and reopen the strait, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies had previously passed.
Ras Tanura, on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast west of the Strait of Hormuz, was previously exporting more than 5 million barrels per day of crude before the conflict. Saudi Arabia’s largest domestic refinery, with capacity of 550,000 bpd, is also located at Ras Tanura and was shut during the war as a precaution.
Aramco last loaded a cargo from Ras Tanura for China on March 8, LSEG data showed. The company had diverted exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu after the Iranian blockade of the strait prevented ships from entering the Gulf.
The conflict has pushed Saudi crude exports down to about 4 million bpd over the past three months, from more than 7 million bpd before the disruption.
Global oil prices fell by more than $1 a barrel on Friday after briefly rising on reports of the container ship attack. Supply pressure has increased as crude shipments through the strait rose this week to their highest level since the conflict began.
