Satellite data shows Saudi oil loadings in Gulf at multi-month high

The latest:

Saudi oil loadings inside the Persian Gulf surged over the weekend to their highest level since at least June, satellite imagery indicates, signaling that the kingdom has redirected exports back through the Strait of Hormuz. Tankers with combined capacity of 14 million barrels were observed at Gulf export installations, according to European Union Sentinel 2 data compiled by Bloomberg. Saudi Aramco declined to comment on the images.

Details:

• The snapshot: Bloomberg reported that vessels able to lift 14 million barrels were counted at Saudi Gulf export terminals over the weekend, based on European Union Sentinel 2 satellite imagery. The figure is the highest observed since at least June, according to data compiled by the outlet.
• Reading the number: Bloomberg cautioned the snapshot overstates daily flow, because tankers frequently load across several days. Day-to-day activity swings sharply: the count of vessels loading at the same location on Friday was the lowest since the start of September, underscoring how volatile single-day readings can be.
• The pipeline: The East-West pipeline, with capacity of 7 million barrels a day, was shut this month after attacks by militants in Iraq, according to Bloomberg. It had served as the kingdom’s principal workaround to the Iran war, moving barrels to the Red Sea without exposing tankers to the contested waterway.
• Why Hormuz matters: Bloomberg reported that Iran has been attacking tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Riyadh to route crude around it before the pipeline outage forced a reversal. Total flows through the strait have held up but remain below pre-war levels, steadily eroding global stockpiles.
• Prices: Crude moved back above $100 a barrel this month for the first time since July, according to Bloomberg. Getting more Saudi oil out through the strait is described as vital to keeping a lid on prices, tying the satellite reading directly to the market’s near-term direction.
• The workaround sale: Aramco sold roughly 60 million barrels of crude last week for delivery this month and next outside Hormuz, using ship-to-ship transfers, Bloomberg reported. The buyers were not identified, and the company did not disclose pricing terms for the cargoes.
• The baseline: Before the pipeline attack, Aramco was exporting about 4 million barrels a day, with roughly 1 million passing through Hormuz and the rest shipped from Yanbu on the Red Sea, according to Bloomberg. That total was up from around 3 million barrels a day in August.
• The information gap: Traders have been hunting for data on Saudi export volumes since the shutdown, Bloomberg reported. Aramco has not published figures covering the period, leaving satellite imagery and tanker-tracking as the main read on how much crude is moving.

Background:

The East-West pipeline runs crude from Saudi Arabia’s eastern fields to Yanbu on the Red Sea, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz entirely. It became the kingdom’s main export shield during the Iran war until militant attacks in Iraq forced it offline this month.

Between the lines:

The satellite count is a proxy, not a disclosure. With the pipeline down and Aramco silent on volumes, the market is pricing Saudi supply off imagery and ship-to-ship sales rather than official data. Friday’s low reading against the weekend’s multi-month high shows how thin that evidence base is, and how sharply sentiment can swing while stockpiles keep drawing down.

What’s next

Watch whether loadings hold near weekend levels in coming imagery, any Aramco statement on export volumes or pipeline repairs, further tanker incidents in Hormuz, and whether crude holds above $100 a barrel.