Saudi Aramco Restarts Strait of Hormuz Oil Shipments After Three-Week Halt

Saudi Aramco has resumed loading crude oil from terminals in the Strait of Hormuz region after halting activity for three weeks. The state-owned energy company had stopped sales following attacks on its tanker fleet as tensions between the US and Iran escalated last month.

The resumption of Saudi oil exports could help improve supplies of heavy crude, which produces more residual fuel that can be used as marine fuel or further processed into higher-value products such as petrol and diesel. Three VLCCs loaded 2 million barrels of crude from the Juaymah and Ras Tanura terminals between August 12-16.

Saudi Aramco is also preparing several other tankers to load oil from the area, with preliminary data showing that six more VLCCs could potentially do so by the end of this month. The company may deploy tankers owned by Bahri to transport oil through the Strait of Hormuz, in addition to using Sinokor-owned vessels.