Global energy major Saudi Aramco has resumed crude loadings at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf after a near four-month halt due to the Iran war and the disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz, shipping data showed, as the world’s biggest oil exporter joined a rush to move oil and gas cargoes amid industry hopes of normalisation returning sooner.
Aramco, along with other Middle Eastern producers, had been ramping up oil and gas output and exports in the lead-up to the interim deal between the United States and Iran that halted the war and reopened the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies used to pass before the conflict.
Two “Very Large Crude Carriers” controlled by Saudi Arabia’s shipping arm Bahri were seen loading crude at Ras Tanura, the world’s biggest oil port, while another waited nearby. Each VLCC is capable of loading two million barrels of oil,” Reuters reported, quoting the shipping data.
Ras Tanura Port, which sits on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast on the Gulf and is west of the Strait of Hormuz, used to export more than five million bpd of crude oil before the Iran conflict. The kingdom’s largest domestic 550,000 bpd refinery is also located at Ras Tanura, which was shut during the war as a precautionary measure.
Aramco last loaded a cargo from the Ras Tanura port for China on March 8, as per the LSEG data, and had to divert its exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu after the Iranian blockade of the Hormuz prevented ships from entering the Gulf.
The war has caused Saudi crude exports to slump to about four million bpd in the past three months, from more than seven million bpd in February 2026.
Talking about the broader region, Iraq’s SOMO and Qatar have already issued tenders offering crude following similar moves by Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Iran is also rushing its exports after Washington temporarily lifted sanctions. Two empty VLCCs, Natsumi and Halti, entered the Gulf on Friday to load Iranian oil, as per the reports.
Tankers ferrying UAE oil continued transiting the strait on Friday (June 26), with two laden VLCCs exiting and one heading to Zirku port.
“Two million barrels a day came back online in three weeks, and the recovery is spread across the region,” Rystad Energy’s MENA research director Aditya Saraswat said in a note, indicating an improvement in the overall supply picture.