Aramco delays Saudi crude shipments to European refiners after pipeline attack halts Red Sea exports

Saudi Aramco has cancelled or deferred term crude supplies due to load in late September for some European refiners, as the closure of a key Saudi pipeline has halted loadings at the Red Sea port of Yanbu.

At least three European refiners have had cargoes cancelled or shifted from the final 10 days of September to as late as November. Two other European refiners expect to be told in the coming days that their September cargoes will be delayed or cancelled.

The disruption follows the shutdown of Saudi Arabia's 7 million barrel-per-day East-West crude pipeline since 10 September. The pipeline, a key route to the Red Sea export facility, was badly hit during recent Houthi strikes.

No Saudi crude has departed Yanbu since 11 September, and loadings at the port have been halted. Around five days of Saudi crude inventories remain at Yanbu, leaving Aramco to manage limited supplies at the facility while the pipeline remains out of service.

The delays extend an earlier disruption to shipments. Aramco began telling some European customers last week, before the pipeline attack, that early September exports from Sidi Kerir were delayed by around two weeks.

Saudi Aramco is the world's largest oil company. Its term supply arrangements give refiners contracted crude deliveries, yet the company has begun pushing back some of those scheduled cargoes as the interruption at Yanbu restricts the flow of crude towards the Red Sea.

The affected refiners have not been identified. The exact volume of cargoes cancelled or deferred is also unknown, as is the extent of the pipeline damage and the timetable for repair or restart.

The sequence of cancellations and deferrals points to tighter access to Saudi crude for the affected European refiners into October, with some contracted deliveries now delayed until November. It remains unclear whether other Saudi export terminals face similar constraints, whether Aramco will compensate customers for deferred cargoes, or what effect the disruption may have on crude markets or prices.

Aramco declined to comment.