Saudi Arabia is again rerouting oil exports as Houthi attacks in the Red Sea threaten the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a critical backup route since the Iran-Hormuz crisis began. Tankers are being sent thousands of miles around Africa to avoid the strait, doubling voyage distances to roughly 17,000 miles. Millions of barrels are being shuttled north across the Red Sea to avoid Yemen, with Asian refiners increasingly requesting cargo pickup at Sidi Kerir in Egypt instead of Yanbu due to shipping risks.

Saudi Aramco’s request for Asian buyers to collect from Yanbu has faced pushback over difficulty finding willing vessels. To compensate, Saudi Arabia is moving crude via the Suez Canal or overland pipelines to Ain Sukhna, though canal depth limits supertankers and pipeline capacity is insufficient for full Asian demand. Empty supertankers are also avoiding Bab el-Mandeb, with six Saudi vessels now skirting Africa’s western coast en route to the Mediterranean.

Simultaneously, Saudi Arabia is offering Gulf of Oman pickups to Chinese customers, with satellite images showing tanker clusters there and increased activity inside the Persian Gulf. State tanker company’s cautious reputation suggests potential use of Oman/UAE straits for Gulf-to-Red Sea transfers, a tactic already used by UAE producers and linked to Sinokor Group and its owner Ga-Hyun Chung, who is again involved as Gulf flows rise.