LONDON: Crude exports from Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu fell by about 15% week-on-week to average nearly 3.9 million barrels per day in the week beginning March 30, shipping data from LSEG and Kpler showed.
Exports in the week beginning March 23 were near 4.6 million bpd, the data showed.
Yanbu, with a capacity to export about 5 million bpd, is the only Saudi port currently capable of exporting crude to other regions amid massive disruptions to transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
Overall, exports from the port in March averaged 3.3 million bpd, according to Kpler, a more than four-fold increase from February levels.
READ MORE: Saudi Red Sea oil exports set to jump to 3.8 million bpd in March, shipping data shows
Saudi Aramco has been pumping crude along its East-West pipeline to Yanbu to keep supplies flowing and offset the effective closure of the strait.
Aramco can pump up to 7 million bpd through the pipeline, around 5 million bpd of which could be available for export, with the rest supplying local refineries, the company said on March 10.
“The drop in exports likely reflects vessel availability and the timing of vessel discharges,” Kpler analyst Johannes Rauball said.
A shipping source said comments by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement about possible attacks on the Bab al-Mandab Strait were making some shipowners wary of sending vessels to the port.
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