Overview
- Aramco asked Asian buyers to submit April nominations for both Gulf ports and the Red Sea terminal at Yanbu, signaling a formal pivot in export planning.
- Red Sea flows have jumped, with Yanbu exports estimated near 2.47 million barrels per day and 27 VLCCs heading to the port, while early‑March loadings averaged about 2.2 million barrels per day.
- The East‑West pipeline can theoretically move about 7 million barrels per day, yet practical loading at Yanbu is seen near 3 million barrels per day, creating a bottleneck.
- The Yanbu option currently applies to Arab Light cargoes, limiting substitution for the roughly 6 million barrels per day Saudi Arabia previously shipped through Hormuz.
- Saudi output has been reduced by an estimated 2 million to 2.5 million barrels per day, according to Bloomberg sources, reflecting export constraints as the reroute scales up.