Asian Refiners Ask Aramco to Shift Saudi Crude Pickup to Egypt as Red Sea Risks Mount
At least two Asian refiners have asked Saudi Aramco to load cargoes from Egypt's Sidi Kerir instead of Yanbu, as Houthi threats push the Red Sea route toward collapse.
At least two Asia-based refiners asked Saudi Aramco on Monday (2026-08-17) to let them collect next month's crude cargoes from Sidi Kerir, Egypt's Mediterranean terminal, rather than from Yanbu on the Red Sea, according to anonymous trading sources cited by Bloomberg. ICE Brent crude front-month was trading at $94.31 per barrel as of Friday (2026-08-21), down from reports of levels above $98 in late July, but still reflecting persistent supply anxiety across Middle East export routes.8,4
The request reflects the degree to which Houthi attacks have made Yanbu an increasingly unattractive loading point. Yanbu crude exports had already fallen 41% from their March peak to around 2.39 million barrels per day by June (2026), according to data cited by OilPrice.com, and represent a 66% slump from the roughly 7.96 million bpd Saudi Arabia was loading across both Gulf and Red Sea terminals in January (2026). Those are industry-sourced estimates with a confidence caveat, and the trajectory is striking regardless of the precise floor.5
The routing change, if confirmed, would add significant transit complexity. Saudi crude heading to Asia via Sidi Kerir would travel north through the SUMED pipeline — which runs from Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea coast to Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean and has a stated capacity of roughly 2.5 million barrels per day — then require tankers to make the full voyage around Africa or transit the Suez Canal westbound before heading east to Asian destinations. Neither option is cheap.4
Aramco is preparing for this scenario. The company has informed at least two Chinese refiners it may introduce a separate official selling price for cargoes loaded at Sidi Kerir for delivery to Asia, traders told Rigzone in late July (2026-07-29), speaking on condition of anonymity. Critically, Aramco had not yet finalized the mechanism or its start date as of that reporting. A new OSP for Mediterranean-origin Saudi crude would represent a meaningful structural change in how Asia buys its barrels — one that embeds higher logistics costs into the pricing formula rather than leaving buyers to manage them individually.7
The trigger is Houthi escalation at Bab el-Mandeb, the narrow strait separating Yemen from Djibouti that controls access to the southern Red Sea. A MarineTraffic analyst said on Wednesday (2026-07-22) that "the Bab el-Mandeb risk picture is deteriorating" after Houthi rebels threatened to impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia. At least eight very large crude carriers were observed heading to Sidi Kerir in late July (2026-07-28) to collect Saudi crude rather than loading at Yanbu, according to Rigzone's tracking data.3,6
Saudi Arabia had already adapted to an earlier chokepoint problem. After disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz — through which the EIA recorded average flows of 21 million barrels per day in 2022 — Riyadh redirected virtually all exports westward through its East-West pipeline to Yanbu. That move relieved Gulf exposure but concentrated export dependency on the Red Sea, and now the Red Sea is the problem.2,5
The picture is not uniform across Asian buyers. Most refiners in China, India, and Taiwan were asked by Aramco to continue loading from Yanbu, Bloomberg's trading sources said on Monday (2026-08-17). The Sidi Kerir requests appear to reflect individual refiner risk tolerance rather than a coordinated buyer shift. Some buyers may find the longer voyage economics workable given current tanker rates; others may judge the Red Sea threat manageable.8
One analyst told OilPrice.com that if Bab el-Mandeb comes under sustained disruption from a declared Houthi naval blockade, Asia stands to lose a major crude supply artery. Aramco has said it aims to route more than 5 million barrels per day through alternative paths to stabilize supply, though that figure exceeds the SUMED pipeline's stated 2.5 million bpd capacity and would presumably require Cape of Good Hope routing for the balance — a voyage adding roughly two weeks to Asia delivery times.1,4,5
The piece that remains unresolved is Aramco's OSP decision. A separate Sidi Kerir price would signal that Saudi Arabia has effectively accepted a bifurcated export architecture — Red Sea for willing buyers, Mediterranean for risk-averse ones — and would formalize higher logistics costs into Asian crude benchmarks for as long as the Houthi threat persists. Whether Aramco announces that mechanism before September loading programs are finalized is the next concrete date to watch.7,8