Ships near the Strait of Hormuz, seen from Musandam, Oman, on Aug. 6 (local time). [Reuters]
Ships near the Strait of Hormuz, seen from Musandam, Oman, on Aug. 6 (local time). [Reuters]

Saudi Arabia has been loading crude oil at Persian Gulf ports after Houthi rebels threatened the kingdom's Red Sea shipping route, Bloomberg reported Friday. Citing satellite imagery taken Thursday, Bloomberg said a very large crude carrier (VLCC) was spotted docked at the Ju'aymah mooring facility at the Ras Tanura oil export complex in the Gulf.

The tanker can carry up to 2 million barrels of crude.

A separate tanker that had been moored at the facility on Tuesday was no longer visible and is believed to have departed with a full cargo load — the first such departure from the facility in nearly a month.

After Iran's war led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia rerouted its oil exports through a terminal at Yanbu port on the Red Sea. That detour has since run into trouble, however, as Iran-backed Houthi rebels threatened to attack Saudi vessels transiting the Bab el-Mandeb strait at the mouth of the Red Sea.

In the past week, Houthi forces have struck an Aramco oil refinery in Jizan, a southwestern Saudi city on the Red Sea coast, twice.


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