Saudi Arabia loads nearly 12 million barrels in one day as Hormuz tanker traffic adapts

On September 21, Saudi Arabia experienced its busiest day of crude-loading in nearly three years, with six supertankers filling nearly 12 million barrels at Ras Tanura and Juaymah, according to shipping-data provider MarineTraffic. The surge in cargo suggests that the kingdom's Aramco is quickly restoring export capacity through the Gulf after a drone strike temporarily halted the East-West pipeline to the Red Sea, as noted by Reuters.

Six Very Large Crude Carriers, or VLCCs, loaded about 12 million barrels at the Ras Tanura-Juaymah export complex; each VLCC typically carries around 2 million barrels of crude. Four of these tankers entered the Gulf between September 15 and 17, carrying ballast and heading for Ras Tanura. A separate report from TankerTrackers.com indicated that Saudi Aramco loaded approximately 14 million barrels in seven VLCCs during the same period, a discrepancy likely due to differing vessel-tracking methods and timing windows used by the two providers.

Despite this record loading day, commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains well below normal levels, as reported by MarineTraffic. The recovery in Saudi Gulf loadings offers some relief to refiners and oil markets, but the regional shipping system still operates under caution due to the ongoing instability in Hormuz, with only 17 commodity vessels crossing the strait during a recent weekend, down from 37 a week earlier.