Saudi Aramco resumes crude loadings at Ras Tanura as Gulf supply recovers

Saudi Aramco is finally pushing crude back through its crown jewel. After sitting largely idle since early March, the Ras Tanura terminal, one of the biggest oil export facilities on the planet, is resuming loadings as multiple very large crude carriers (VLCCs) owned by national shipping company Bahri were spotted heading toward the Ju’aymah offshore loading area on Thursday.

The disruption traces back to March 2, when debris from intercepted projectiles caused a contained fire at the Ras Tanura refinery, which has a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day. Aramco managed to restart refinery operations relatively quickly, getting things back online by March 13.

During the disruption, Aramco rerouted exports through the East-West pipeline to its Red Sea port of Yanbu. That workaround kept 60-70% of export volumes flowing.

The resumption also aligns with a broader easing of tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow chokepoint through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes daily. A US-Iran agreement has reduced some of the pressure on these critical shipping lanes, though the pace of full normalization remains tied to how geopolitical dynamics evolve.

Aramco CEO Amin Nasser has expressed confidence in the company’s ability to ramp up output quickly once conditions fully stabilize. Given that the terminal is now actively receiving VLCCs again, the ramp-up appears to be underway.

Even with VLCCs heading to Ju’aymah, the timeline for reaching full pre-disruption throughput remains uncertain. Operational assessments will dictate the pace, and Aramco hasn’t committed to a specific date for returning to peak capacity. The key metric to watch is how quickly loading volumes at Ras Tanura climb back toward that 5.0-5.5 million barrel per day baseline.

The Yanbu workaround, while effective, came with costs. Routing through the East-West pipeline adds transit time and complexity, and capping export capacity at 60-70% of normal levels meant some buyers were either receiving delayed shipments or sourcing from alternative suppliers.

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