Saudi Oil Exports via Mediterranean Surge as Shuttles Bypass Houthi Threat

Saudi Arabia has increased its crude oil exports from Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir by approximately 33% over the past month. This surge follows Houthi threats to Saudi oil shipments in the southern Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

To bypass the Iran-aligned Houthi threat in Yemen, Saudi state oil giant Aramco has initiated a shuttle service moving crude northward from its Yanbu port on the Red Sea. Western ship operators and owners, including South Korea’s Sinokor, Norway’s DHT Management AS, and Greece’s Dynacom, are assisting Aramco with these northern Red Sea shipments.

Under this new transit arrangement, tankers transport oil from Yanbu north to the Egyptian Red Sea port of Ain Sukhna. The crude is then discharged and pumped through the SUMED onshore pipeline to the Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir.

This rerouting strategy has boosted Saudi shipments via the northern Red Sea route to 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), according to Kpler data. Ship-tracking data shows that at least four tankers have completed the Yanbu-to-Ain Sukhna route multiple times, moving over 16 million barrels of oil in recent weeks.

From Sidi Kerir, the oil is shipped through the Mediterranean and around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope to reach customers in Asia. This detour adds nearly a month of travel time for Asian refiners. The shift comes as several Asian buyers recently requested that Aramco allow them to collect their crude cargoes at Sidi Kerir to avoid the security risks in the southern Red Sea.