Asian Refineries Press Saudi Aramco to Bypass Yemeni Blockade

Asian refineries are pressuring Saudi Aramco to switch loading ports for their oil shipments due to the difficulty of finding tankers willing to sail through the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandeb, where a Yemeni naval blockade is in place. At least two Asian refineries have requested to receive Saudi oil from the Egyptian port of Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean Sea instead of Yanbu port on the Red Sea.

The requests relate to shipments scheduled for September under long-term contracts with Aramco, which may face a high cost of transporting oil from Sidi Kerir to Asia via the route around Africa. Some Saudi shipments have already been diverted to the Egyptian port.

Aramco has cut its main selling price for crude oil for Asian customers for September to its lowest level since 2020, but final prices may be higher due to additional transportation and logistics costs.