Saudi Aramco resumes oil loading at Ras Tanura in boost to supply
... Two Very Large Crude Carriers controlled by Saudi’s shipping arm Bahri were seen loading crude at Ras Tanura, the world’s biggest oil port, while another is heading towards the terminal, the data showed on Friday. A fourth VLCC waited nearby. Each VLCC is capable of loading 2 million barrels of oil.
... Ras Tanura sits on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast on the Gulf and is west of the Strait of Hormuz. It used to export more than 5 million bpd of crude before the conflict. The country’s largest domestic 550,000 bpd refinery is also located at Ras Tanura, which was shut during the war as a precautionary measure.
Aramco last loaded a cargo from Ras Tanura port for China on March 8, LSEG data showed, and had to divert its exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu after the Iranian blockade of the strait during its war with the U.S. and Israel prevented ships from entering the Gulf.
The war has caused Saudi crude exports to slump to about 4 million bpd in the past three months, the data showed, from more than 7 million bpd in February.
... [Rystad Energy] now estimates that shut-in production across the Gulf has fallen to 9.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in mid-June, down from 11.7 million bpd just three weeks ago, and expects a full supply recovery in the region by the end of the year.
