✴️Saudi Aramco Begins Redirecting Part of Oil Shipments to the Red Sea

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Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, Saudi Aramco, has begun shifting part of its oil exports to the Red Sea due to security risks in the Strait of Hormuz. With ship traffic in the strait almost at a standstill due to tensions with Iran, Aramco has directed some of its buyers to load from the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast.
✴️The company transports oil from its main production fields in the east to the port of Yanbu via the East-West pipeline. This pipeline has a capacity of up to 5 million barrels per day; however, Yanbu’s daily loading capacity typically remains around 2-2.5 million barrels. According to Bloomberg tanker tracking data, five supertankers (VLCCs) departed from Yanbu in the first four days of March, and Red Sea exports rose from an average of 786,000 barrels in February to approximately 2-2.5 million barrels in March.
✴️Aramco described this move as a temporary measure to “enhance security and ensure supply continuity.” According to Saudi state television Al Ekhbariya, the company stated, “We are closely monitoring developments; we will resume operations when conditions return to normal.”
✴️Analysts note that this diversion helps prevent storage facilities in the Gulf from filling up, but it cannot meet the entire 7 million barrels of daily exports via Hormuz. Nevertheless, as the world’s largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia has activated alternative routes to prevent disruptions in global supply. This development is highlighted as one of the most concrete examples of how tensions in the Middle East are impacting energy markets. While Aramco continues loading at Gulf ports such as Ras Tanura, it has prioritized a route away from the risky region.