Saudi Arabia boosts Mediterranean oil exports 33% via Egypt to avoid Houthi threat

AI digestMimile.ai EditorialAugust 21, 2026 at 07:28 PM

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Saudi Arabia boosts Mediterranean oil exports 33% via Egypt to avoid Houthi threat

Saudi Arabia increased crude exports from Egypt's Sidi Kerir port by 33% in the month since Houthi threats to southern Red Sea shipping. Aramco now shuttles oil from Yanbu to Ain Sukhna for pipeline transfer to the Mediterranean. The rerouting adds nearly a month to delivery times for Asian refiners.

Key Facts

Saudi crude exports from Sidi Kerir rose 33% to 1.1 million barrels per day in the month after Houthi threats to the southern Red Sea.
Aramco began shuttling oil from Yanbu to Ain Sukhna, where it enters the SUMED pipeline to the Mediterranean.
At least four tankers made the Yanbu–Ain Sukhna journey twice, moving over 16 million barrels in recent weeks.
The new route via the Mediterranean and Cape of Good Hope adds nearly a month to delivery times for Asian refiners.

Rerouting via Egypt

Saudi Arabia boosted crude exports from Egypt's Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir by about 33% in the month since Houthi threats to the southern Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Aramco began shuttling oil from its Yanbu port on the Red Sea north toward Egypt to avoid the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen. The shuttle service runs from Yanbu to the Egyptian port of Ain Sukhna, where oil is discharged and pumped onto the SUMED onshore pipeline to Sidi Kerir. Western ship operators including South Korea's Sinokor, Norway's DHT Management, and Greece's Dynacom are helping Aramco shuttle crude northward.

Export Volumes and Tanker Activity

The new routing helped Aramco increase shipments via the northern Red Sea route by about a third to 1.1 million barrels per day, according to Kpler data cited by Bloomberg. At least four tankers made the Yanbu to Ain Sukhna journey at least twice and shipped more than 16 million barrels of oil in recent weeks. From Sidi Kerir, oil continues through the Mediterranean and around the Cape of Good Hope to reach Asian buyers. This route adds nearly a month to the time Saudi oil supply reaches refiners in Asia.

Asian Refiner Requests

Reports emerged earlier this week that some Asian refiners asked Aramco to pick up crude cargoes at Sidi Kerir amid heightened shipping risks in the southern Red Sea.

1 source

Saudi Arabia boosts Mediterranean oil exports 33% via Egypt to avoid Houthi threat

oilprice.com

OilPrice

Finance

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea oil exports fall 41%, reroute options narrow to Suez pipeline

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports from its Red Sea port of Yanbu dropped 41% from a March peak to 2.39 million barrels daily in June, as Houthi attacks forced vessels to avoid the southern Red Sea, according to Windward data. Two LNG tankers were struck by drones in Egypt’s Damietta port on the Mediterranean, underscoring the risks to the remaining export corridor through the Suez Canal and SUMED pipeline. The decline came even as OPEC’s top producer scrambled to redirect flows after Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz.

Environment

Saudi Oil Tankers Go Dark in Bab el-Mandeb Transit Amid Houthi Threat

Tankers laden with Saudi crude are increasingly transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with their transponders off, Bloomberg reported, citing vessel-tracking data. The Greece-owned Lesvos and the Indian-flagged Desh Vaibhav went dark near Yanbu on Saturday before reappearing off Oman on Monday. At least five tankers were berthed at Yanbu on its busiest day since the Houthis threatened Saudi shipping two weeks ago, as the kingdom reroutes exports to avoid the chokepoint.

Finance

Saudi Oil Detour Adds $5 a Barrel but Secures Chokepoint Hedge

Saudi Arabia is routing crude to Asia via Egypt’s SUMED pipeline and around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, adding roughly $5 per barrel to shipping costs. The detour allows the kingdom to bypass both the Strait of Hormuz and the Houthi-threatened Bab el-Mandeb, though it nearly triples voyage time from about 19 days to 48 days. Aramco is considering a separate pricing mechanism for oil loaded at Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir to reflect the additional expenses.

Finance

Iraq seeks higher OPEC quota, aims for 8-10 million bpd in six years

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said on Friday he sent a delegation to Saudi Arabia to seek a higher OPEC output quota. The country plans to raise oil production to between 8 million and 10 million barrels per day over the next six years. The move comes as Iraq seeks to expand exports through Turkey, Syria, and Jordan to bypass the disrupted Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Arabia boosts Mediterranean oil exports 33% via Egypt to avoid Houthi threat

Key Facts

Rerouting via Egypt

Export Volumes and Tanker Activity

Asian Refiner Requests

Read more

Read more