Saudi Arabia is taking the unusual step of selling millions of barrels of oil on an ad-hoc basis to customers in Asia, illustrating the complex task of restoring flows throttled by the Iran war. State-run energy giant Saudi Aramco has sold at least 6 million barrels of crude on a so-called spot basis on three supertankers bound for South Korea, Japan and China, traders with knowledge of the matter said. They asked not to be identified because the transactions aren’t public. It’s a departure from standard practice by the world’s largest oil exporter, which normally only sells supplies on long-term contracts. Transactions for individual cargoes are more common among smaller producers, and their use by the kingdom now speaks to the unprecedented nature of reversing the biggest supply disruption in history.
Saudi Aramco declined to comment.
Producers across the Middle East have been ramping up output, initially reflecting their success in sneaking out barrels through the shuttered Strait of Hormuz and later responding to the fragile US-Iran agreement to end the war. Crude exports from the Persian Gulf have recovered to at least 75% of pre-conflict levels, aided by a resumption of loadings at Ras Tanura, Aramco’s main export terminal inside the Gulf. The rebound has helped trigger a slump in the prices of crudes from the region and more generally, pulling Brent futures down to $72 a barrel. Normally, the kingdom only sells crude to long-term contract buyers at official selling prices that are set once a month. Shipments purchased on a spot basis may count toward customers’ annual contractual volume obligations, the traders said. Of the cargoes heading to Asia, Aramco offered at least some on a delivered basis, meaning the company assumes responsibility for delivering the barrels. It priced them against the regional Dubai and Oman benchmarks, the traders said. Saudi crude exports climbed to 4.45 million barrels a day in June, their highest level since the war broke out at the end of February, though still considerably below previous volumes, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The kingdom is not alone in restoring shipments. Oil tankers are continuing to navigate the reopened Strait of Hormuz, despite attacks in recent days that made some owners more cautious about crossing the world’s top maritime chokepoint. The United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has been among the most active sellers of spot crude from the region, selling tens of millions of barrels via tenders, and even proposing this week to index its own official prices to the regional Dubai benchmark. OPEC member Iraq has managed to export oil that was stranded in the Persian Gulf, but continues to face difficulty in sourcing enough tankers to collect cargoes.
