Yanbu crude oil loadings averaged 3.5M bpd week of April 13, down 17% from prior week and lowest since early March

Crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port on the Red Sea saw a decline during the week of April 13, averaging about 3.5 million barrels per day, according to Kpler data. This represents a 17% decrease compared to the prior week and the lowest volume since the second week of March.

Loadings in the week of April 6 averaged between 4 million and 4.2 million bpd. This was slightly below the port’s record of approximately 4.3 million bpd, set during the week of March 23.

An analyst at Kpler, Johannes Rauball, suggested that the change in vessel types may have contributed to the recent decrease. He noted a shift towards Aframax and Suezmax loadings during the week of April 13, in contrast to the earlier week, which saw a larger proportion of VLCCs.

Yanbu is the sole Saudi Arabian port currently handling crude exports to significant markets in Asia and Europe, given the ongoing restrictions on flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier in the month, Saudi Arabia announced that it had fully restored the East-West pipeline’s pumping capacity, which connects Yanbu to the eastern region, to approximately 7 million bpd. This followed an assessment of damage resulting from attacks.

Despite exceeding its nameplate capacity on certain days, shipping data indicates that the port has yet to consistently operate at its capacity of over 5 million bpd.