Saudi Arabia resumes oil exports from largest port after 4 months

After a nearly four-month shutdown, Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco has resumed loading crude oil from the Gulf region's largest oil export terminal, Ras Tanura. The important port was reopened on Friday (June 26).

Reuters reported that two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) controlled by Saudi shipping company Bahri are loading crude oil at the Ras Tanura port and another ship is waiting near the port. Each VLCC is capable of carrying about 2 million barrels of oil.

In the hope of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Middle Eastern oil and gas producing countries have recently taken steps to increase production and exports. Saudi Arabia has also resumed oil exports from within the Gulf.

Oil exports resumed on Thursday, but a Taiwanese ship, Evergreen Marine, was hit by an unidentified object in the Strait of Hormuz. The British Royal Navy's merchant marine, UKMTO, has temporarily suspended rescue operations in the strait.

Meanwhile, two US officials told Reuters that Iran had attacked the ship. On the other hand, Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority said that the safety of ships traveling outside their designated routes would not be guaranteed.

Ras Tanura, located on the east coast of Saudi Arabia in the Gulf, is one of the world's largest oil export ports. Before the war, more than 5 million barrels of crude oil were exported from here daily. In addition, it is home to Saudi Arabia's largest refinery with a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day, which was closed during the war as a precautionary measure.

According to LSEG, an oil shipment was last sent to China from Ras Tanura on March 8. Then, as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted by an Iranian blockade, Saudi Arabia diverted its oil exports through the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The conflict has seen Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports drop to about 4 million barrels per day in the past three months, down from more than 7 million barrels in February.