Houthi Forces Blockade Yanbu Port; Saudi Arabia Resumes Hormuz Oil Shipping and Shifts to Ship-to-Ship Transfers in Gulf of Oman
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Yemen's Houthi blockade has shut down Saudi Arabia's 4-million-barrel-per-day Yanbu bypass; Aramco is now reloading through the Strait of Hormuz and running ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman — the world's largest oil exporter is improvising its way out of a shipping crisis.
Why did the Yanbu route collapse overnight?
Yanbu, on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, was Aramco's core alternative export channel — a way to ship oil without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. It handled roughly 4 million barrels per day.
The Houthis declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, and the Red Sea route went dead. This means → Saudi Arabia's carefully built "bypass the strait" backup was wiped out by a single blockade order.
Post-blockade, Saudi shipments to Asia this month are expected at only about 670,000 bpd — a stark drop from the 4 million bpd Yanbu once carried.
Why is Saudi Arabia back in the Strait of Hormuz?
After Yanbu failed, Aramco rerouted some exports to Egypt's Sidi Kerir terminal — a Mediterranean crude-transfer hub — but longer distances and higher freight costs undercut the workaround's viability.
Last week, Aramco resumed crude loading at Ras Tanura and Juaymah inside the Strait of Hormuz, ending a roughly three-week halt. In plain terms = every detour stopped working, so Saudi Arabia had to go back to the riskiest but highest-capacity route.
Three VLCCs — very large crude carriers, each holding about 2 million barrels — loaded between August 12 and 16. Shipping-data firm Kpler's preliminary figures suggest six more VLCCs may load in the strait later this month.
How does the ship-to-ship workaround function?
To reduce the risk of buyer tankers sailing through Hormuz, Aramco now offers ship-to-ship sales (STS — two vessels transferring crude at sea) in the Gulf of Oman, on the strait's outer side.
In plain terms = Aramco's own ships carry the oil through the strait and hand it off outside — buyers can pick up crude without ever entering the chokepoint.
The grades on offer are Arab Medium and Arab Heavy, almost certainly sourced from inside the Persian Gulf. Aramco also continues STS deliveries to Asian refiners off Fujairah in the UAE.
Can this patchwork hold?
This reflects not a return to normal exports but a forced improvisation after every alternative was blocked — longer routes, higher costs, and risk that has not gone away.
Two checkpoints will determine sustainability: ① whether VLCC loadings inside Hormuz can scale up consistently; ② whether volumes at Egypt's Sidi Kerir terminal can meaningfully recover.
This means → the world's largest crude exporter has shifted from "pick the best route" to "use whichever route still works" — rising freight costs and supply uncertainty will keep pressing on oil prices.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.