Saudi Aramco Restarts Crude Loadings at Ras Tanura, Easing Global Supply Worries

Saudi Aramco has brought its Ras Tanura terminal back online for crude exports, breaking a suspension that lasted nearly four months, shipping records confirmed on Friday. The restart places the kingdom among Gulf nations rushing to normalize output following a tentative truce between Washington and Tehran intended to halt fighting and unlock the Strait of Hormuz once again.

Notably, the resumption proceeded even after an unidentified object struck a vessel owned by Taiwan's Evergreen Marine inside the strait a day earlier. Tracking data placed two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), run by Aramco's logistics affiliate Bahri, actively taking on cargo at the port — each ship able to hold up to two million barrels.

Ras Tanura's Role in Global Crude Movement

Sitting along Saudi Arabia's eastern shoreline, Ras Tanura ranks as the planet's busiest crude-loading facility. Its position just west of the Strait of Hormuz makes it strategically vital, given that the narrow waterway has historically carried close to one-fifth of the world's combined oil and LNG flows.

Tankers Spotted Loading at the Port

According to the shipping data, a pair of Bahri-operated VLCCs were observed mid-loading, while a third tanker idled nearby awaiting its turn. The two-million-barrel capacity of each vessel highlights how much volume the reopened terminal can now push back into global markets.

Nearby Refinery Had Been Idled

A 550,000-barrel-per-day refinery — Saudi Arabia's largest for domestic use — operates next to the terminal and had been taken offline earlier as a safety precaution tied to regional hostilities.

How the Export Halt Unfolded

Records from LSEG show Aramco's final cargo dispatch from Ras Tanura toward China took place on March 8, just before the closure. In the interim, the company rerouted shipments through its Yanbu facility on the Red Sea coast after Iranian forces effectively sealed off the Strait of Hormuz during hostilities between Iran on one side and the U.S. and Israel on the other.

Export Numbers Took a Hit

Over the three months the conflict dragged on, Saudi crude shipments dropped to roughly 4 million barrels per day, a steep fall from the over 7 million bpd recorded back in February.

Doubts Linger Over Strait Security

Even as loadings resume, fresh tension is clouding confidence in the ceasefire's staying power. Reuters cited two American officials who said Iranian forces were responsible for firing on the Evergreen Marine ship. Separately, Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority — a body Tehran formed specifically to oversee strait transit requests — warned that vessels straying from its approved corridors would not have guaranteed safe passage.

UK Maritime Agency Halts Escort Service

In response to Thursday's incident, Britain's UKMTO agency suspended its protective escort missions for ships crossing the strait, casting fresh doubt on whether the fragile U.S.-Iran arrangement to wind down the war will actually hold.

Why This Restart Matters for Energy Markets

Prior to the conflict's disruption, Ras Tanura alone pushed out more than 5 million bpd, making it a linchpin of global crude supply. Aramco, which was among the final major Gulf exporters to resume Gulf-side loadings, had not issued any comment by Friday, as the announcement came outside normal office hours.

[Source: dawn]