▲ Saudi Arabian state-owned oil company Aramco
Observations suggest that Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company, Aramco, has resumed crude oil loading at the Ras Tanura port in the Persian Gulf for the first time in about three months.
An analysis of vessel tracking data by Reuters showed that on June 26 (local time), two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) operated by the Saudi shipping company Bahri loaded crude oil at Ras Tanura, while another vessel was waiting in nearby waters.
Each of these VLCCs is reportedly capable of carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil.
Reuters reported that Aramco did not respond to requests for comment regarding the resumption of loading at the Ras Tanura port.
Located inside the Strait of Hormuz, the Ras Tanura port handled over 5 million barrels of crude oil exports per day before the war broke out in late February.
After loading crude oil bound for China on March 8, Aramco was forced to divert its export route to the Yanbu port on the Red Sea.
Saudi Arabia's largest oil refinery is also located there, but its operations were suspended during the war.
Reuters explained that Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports, which exceeded 7 million barrels per day before the war, had plummeted to approximately 4 million barrels per day over the past three months.
Reuters noted that Saudi Arabia resumed loading at Ras Tanura despite an attack on a container ship operated by the Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen in the Strait of Hormuz the previous day, assessing the move as a reflection of expectations for normalization.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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