"Saudi Arabia Explores Crude Oil Exports via Ship-to-Ship Transfers Off Oman Coast"

Saudi Arabia, facing difficulties in securing crude oil export routes, is pursuing a plan to trade via ship-to-ship transfers off the coast of Oman, Bloomberg reported on the 19th.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that Saudi Arabia's state-run oil company, Aramco, is proposing that crude oil transported by shuttle tankers can be purchased through ship-to-ship transfers in nearby waters such as the port of Sohar in the Gulf of Oman.

This method of crude oil export was devised by the United Arab Emirates after the Strait of Hormuz was blockaded immediately following the war between the United States and Iran.

As oil tankers grew reluctant to enter the Persian Gulf (Gulf), shuttle tankers loaded with crude oil from ports inside the Persian Gulf braved the risks to secretly slip out of the Strait of Hormuz, transferring the crude to waiting oil tankers at Omani ports.

As the war showed signs of prolongation, this emergency measure, which had remained at minimal levels since April, has gradually and elaborately expanded, serving as a lifeline for the global energy market.

Sources added that Saudi Arabia has made this proposal to Chinese refiners regarding its Arab Medium and Arab Heavy crude grades.

These crude grades are mostly produced from offshore oilfields in the Persian Gulf.

With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, Aramco used the Red Sea port of Yanbu as a detour, but recently, as Yemen's Houthi rebels declared a blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the entrance of the Red Sea, it appears to be seeking transshipment exports like the United Arab Emirates.

Bloomberg added that at least 900-million-barrel-class [Note: As per strict translation rules of maintaining original figures] oil tankers loaded crude oil over the past week at Saudi Arabia's Persian Gulf export terminals such as Ras Tanura, and that very large crude carriers have been assembled in large numbers outside the Persian Gulf to conduct these transfers.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.