KSA resumes oil loadings, sales from inside of Hormuz

Business Recorder reported, citing shipping data and trade sources, that Saudi Aramco resumed crude loadings from within the Strait of Hormuz last week. The state energy company is also offering spot heavy crude cargoes, and more tankers are waiting to load.

On Monday, Aramco offered Arab Medium and Arab Heavy cargoes to some Asian refiners for ship-to-ship transfers near Fujairah in the UAE, with loading due later this month. Sales had been suspended for several weeks after tankers in its fleet were attacked in the Hormuz strait during a flare-up in the US-Iran conflict last month. The report said the restart could help ease a tight supply of heavier grades, which produce more residue fuel.

Three very large crude carriers (VLCCs), Malaysia Prosperity, Algeria Prosperity and Singapore Prosperity, each carried 2 million barrels out of Juaymah and Ras Tanura between August 12 and 16, according to Vortexa and Kpler tracking data. Those cargoes followed a gap of three weeks since the previous loadings, and it is unclear which grades the tankers were carrying. Provisional Kpler figures indicate six further VLCCs could take on Saudi crude from within the strait later this month. Saudi exports remain curtailed while the Yemeni Houthis blockade the Red Sea, where Aramco had redirected shipments to Yanbu, and Aramco declined to comment.