▲ A tanker is docked at the port of Ras Al-Khair on the Gulf coast, about 185 km north of Dammam, eastern Saudi Arabia. (File Photo: Yonhap News)
Saudi Arabia, facing disruptions to its alternative oil export routes due to maritime blockades in the Red Sea and pipeline attacks by Yemen's pro-Iran Houthi rebels, is attempting to export large-scale crude oil through the Persian Gulf, Reuters reported on the 21st (local time), citing shipping data.
According to data from shipping analytics firm TankerTrackers.com, Saudi state oil company Aramco loaded approximately 14 million barrels of crude oil onto seven Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) in the Persian Gulf the previous day.
This increase in shipment volumes through Persian Gulf export terminals appears to be a response to the halt in operations of the East-West pipeline, which had been sending crude to the Red Sea to bypass the effectively blocked Strait of Hormuz, after it was targeted by drone attacks.
An Aramco spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
Satellite images reviewed by Reuters also captured seven tankers floating near the Ras Tanura port on the eastern Gulf coast on the 20th.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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