Saudi Aramco has notified at least three European oil refiners that will supply full contractual crude volumes next month, easing concerns about the region’s supply while crude flows from the Persian Gulf and Red Sea are disrupted. At least three European refiners will receive all the barrels they asked for in September, people with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be named as they aren’t authorized to speak the media. Two buyers will lift from Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, while the third was given an option of taking supplies from Sidi Kerir, Saudi Red Sea port of Yanbu, or via ship-to-ship transfer from Malta. The full allocations will offer some relief to European refiners at a time when the Strait of Hormuz remains heavily disrupted, limiting flows from the Persian Gulf. The region’s plants can ill afford another major supply setback after shipments of CPC Blend, one of their key crude sources, were sharply curtailed last month following drone attacks in the Black Sea. Saudi Aramco declined to comment. Aramco informed its European customers of their allocations about a week later than usual amid hostilities in the Red Sea that have disrupted the kingdom’s normal logistics. Prior to Aramco’s granting of the allocations, multiple traders said they were concerned that Asia might snap up more barrels from Sidi Kerir, meaning less for Europeans. Aramco already notified Asian buyers of their allocations earlier this week, Bloomberg reported previously. However, several of them are pushing back against a request from the producer to they pick up cargoes at Yanbu because threats from Yemen’s Houthi militants has made it more difficult to find ships willing to sail there. The disruptions are forcing Aramco to find more creative ways to market and move its barrels as its main export routes — through the Strait of Hormuz from the Persian Gulf and via Yanbu on the Red Sea — become increasingly risky. The company is now offering cargoes on a so-called ship-to-ship basis from locations including Sohar in the Gulf of Oman, a sign that the kingdom may be following the United Arab Emirates in shuttling more Persian Gulf barrels through the Strait of Hormuz.
