2 Asian Refiners Seek Sidi Kerir Loading as Red Sea Risk Snarls Saudi Oil

For supply chain and logistics leaders, this is a clear signal that Middle East route risk is no longer a background concern but a factor reshaping contractual loading terms. The shift from Yanbu to Sidi Kerir means longer voyages around Africa, tighter tanker availability and higher delivered costs for Asian refiners. Cargo planners must now model multiple port and route scenarios for long-term crude procurement.

At least two Asian refiners have formally asked Saudi Aramco to switch the loading point for September term crude from Yanbu on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast to Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, according to traders cited by Bloomberg. The request is a direct response to shipowners' increasing unwillingness to transit the Red Sea after a series of attacks on tankers and energy infrastructure by Iran-backed Houthi militants. Aramco had assigned September cargoes with Japanese and South Korean refiners asked to take oil from Sidi Kerir, while most processors in China, Taiwan and India were told to lift from Yanbu. That split indicates Aramco is already using alternative ports selectively rather than applying a uniform loading schedule.

“

At least two Asian refiners have formally asked Saudi Aramco to switch the loading point for September term crude from Yanbu on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast to Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, according to traders cited by Bloomberg.

The shift matters because Yanbu has become central to Saudi Arabia’s crude export strategy. The broader Middle East conflict has snarled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and choked off supplies from the Persian Gulf, forcing the kingdom to move larger volumes west through its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea. But that route now faces its own bottleneck at Bab el-Mandeb, the narrow gateway at the Red Sea’s southern end. The July 12 satellite imagery highlighted in the reporting underscores how the waterway itself is now viewed as a military target. If ships will not call at Yanbu and sail south, Saudi crude must be moved via pipeline to Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean, a solution that avoids the Red Sea but introduces a much longer voyage to Asia.

The Sidi Kerir alternative is not cost-free. A tanker loading on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt and heading to Asia must travel west through the Mediterranean, out past Gibraltar, down the west coast of Africa and around the Cape of Good Hope before crossing the Indian Ocean. That route adds thousands of nautical miles, burns more bunker fuel and ties up vessel capacity for weeks longer than a Red Sea transit. At least one refiner may skip its monthly allocation entirely because the higher freight cost from Sidi Kerir around Africa makes the purchase uneconomic. That is a significant commercial signal: rather than pay a higher delivered price, a term buyer is prepared to forfeit contracted Saudi barrels. It suggests that the security premium is now large enough to disrupt long-standing supply relationships, not just spot cargoes.