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Saudi Arabia pivots to spot crude sales after East-West pipeline shutdown following drone attacks
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According to a report by Bloomberg citing unnamed traders, Saudi Arabia has sold up to 20 million barrels of crude oil in the spot market this week, following the shutdown of its East-West pipeline after drone attacks launched from Iraqi territory near the Iranian border on Thursday. The pipeline, which allowed Saudi Arabia to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, was a critical route after the Middle East conflict closed the strait to shipping. With the pipeline offline, Saudi Aramco has canceled or delayed some September deliveries to European refiners. The spot cargoes are being sold for pickup outside the Strait of Hormuz via ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman, meaning buyers do not need to send tankers into the Persian Gulf. Chinese refiners, including state-held giants and independent refiners, along with other East Asian crude processors, have been the main buyers. The report notes that the UAE's ADNOC has perfected similar STS transfer operations in recent months.
Source report
Tsvetana Paraskova Wed, September 16, 2026 at 3:30 AM PDT 2 min read
Saudi Arabia has sold as many as 20 million barrels of crude oil in the spot market so far this week, to be picked up from just outside the Strait of Hormuz, according to unnamed traders with knowledge of the matter who spoke to Bloomberg on Wednesday. The move follows the Kingdom's forced shutdown of the key onshore pipeline that had allowed it to bypass the chokepoint.
Chinese refiners—including state-held giants and independent refiners—along with crude processors in other East Asian countries, have been the main buyers of the Saudi spot crude offerings this week, Bloomberg's sources said.
The Saudi cargoes are being sold for pickup and loading this month and next onto vessels stationed outside the Strait of Hormuz. Buyers will not send tankers into the Persian Gulf via Hormuz; instead, they will load the cargoes through ship-to-ship (STS) transfers in the Gulf of Oman.
Late last week, Saudi Arabia shut down its East-West oil pipeline following drone attacks launched from territory in Iraq near the Iranian border on Thursday.
The 750-mile-long East-West pipeline had become Saudi Arabia's vital oil route to bypass the Strait of Hormuz after the Middle East conflict began and Hormuz was closed to shipping traffic. Thanks to the pipeline, the Kingdom had managed to re-route most of its crude loadings from eastern ports in the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Following the pipeline outage, Saudi oil giant Aramco has reportedly canceled or delayed some September deliveries to European refiners.
STS transfers of spot crude cargoes have been perfected in recent months by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), whose national oil company ADNOC has offered prompt supply in multiple tenders both within the Persian Gulf and the Fujairah-Sohar range outside the Strait of Hormuz.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Saudi Arabia sells 20 million barrels of spot crude after East-West pipeline shutdown