RIYADH (Dispatches) — Saudi crude oil loading volumes at the Red Sea port of Yanbu have fallen by 40 percent in recent days as Riyadh turns to an Egyptian pipeline route to bypass the maritime blockade announced by Yemen’s Armed Forces, according to data from analytics platform Vortexa.
The decline in Yanbu loading activity comes amid retaliatory operations and a maritime blockade by the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), backed by Ansarullah, against Saudi shipping. The move follows years of Saudi-led military operations and blockade measures targeting Yemen.
Maritime intelligence firm Windward said the blockade is creating significant losses and forcing Saudi Arabia to adjust its oil export routes.
“Saudi Arabia has established a working alternative export route via the SUMED pipeline and Cape of Good Hope,” Windward said in a report citing Vortexa data.
The report said the alternative route is increasing transportation costs by about $9 per barrel.
“Saudi crude has not stopped moving. It has bifurcated,” Windward said, adding that Yanbu has shifted to entirely AIS-dark tanker operations at berth as vessels seek to avoid being identified amid security concerns.
According to the report, Saudi Arabia’s alternative export route through the SUMED pipeline and around the Cape of Good Hope has added cost and extended voyage times, while showing the ability of energy markets to adapt to disruptions.
Saudi Arabia had previously developed an alternative route through Yanbu following the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, according to reports at the time.
The Windward report was released alongside satellite imagery from SoarAtlas showing fires continuing to burn at Saudi Aramco’s Jazan Oil Refinery following YAF strikes.
Black smoke has continued to rise from a large oil storage tank after the attacks on the $12 billion facility on Saturday.
The YAF said its latest operations against Saudi Arabia were carried out in response to renewed Saudi bombardment of Yemen’s port city of Hudaydah.
Yemeni President Mahdi al-Mashat said on Monday that Saudi Arabia would not benefit from outside support or promises, adding that only an end to military operations and the lifting of the blockade could resolve the situation.
The YAF had also targeted two Saudi oil tankers in recent days as part of a new blockade of Saudi shipping. The blockade was announced by Sanaa’s forces on July 20 under the slogan “blockade for blockade.”
Earlier in July, Saudi Arabia carried out its first airstrike on Sanaa International Airport in years, after which the YAF launched missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi Arabia’s Abha Airport — the first direct Yemeni strikes on Saudi territory since 2021.