Saudi Aramco Resumes Ras Tanura Shipments via Rare Spot Sales

The state-controlled oil company Saudi Aramco resumed oil loadings and shipments from its Ras Tanura terminal on Friday after a nearly four-month halt. The suspension was caused by conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran, which disrupted maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. Following an interim peace deal and memorandum of understanding signed between the United States and Iran in mid-June, traffic has resumed through the strategic waterway.

To attract Asian demand and capitalize on slumped prices, Saudi Aramco pivoted from its typical long-term supply agreements to rare spot crude sales. Between 6 million and 10 million barrels of oil have already exited the Strait of Hormuz via supertankers bound for China, Japan, and South Korea. These transactions count toward the customers' annual contractual volume obligations. This shift reduces Saudi Arabia's reliance on the East-West pipeline to the Red Sea, which the Kingdom maximized during the conflict to bypass the Persian Gulf.

The ramp-up in exports coincides with a broader regional trend. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has aggressively sold tens of millions of barrels through spot tenders and proposed indexing prices to the Dubai benchmark. These actions, combined with a peace deal, contributed to a collapse in regional crude prices; Brent crude dropped to approximately $70 a barrel from a March peak of $120.