Ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows that 11 VLCCs arrived at Saudi Arabia Red Sea port of Yanbu over the past days and are now waiting nearby before loading begins. Meanwhile, the state oil giant Saudi Aramco said shipments could soon reach 5 million barrels per day, although the infrastructure required to handle flows of that scale has never been tested before. At least 50 supertankers were heading toward the Yanbu port on the Red Sea as of March 13, 2026, prompting traders to closely watch the speed at which Saudi Arabia can load cargoes onto the growing number of tankers rushing to the port. Oil prices have surged to nearly $100 per barrel since the outbreak of the Iranian war, while the International Energy Agency described the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz as the biggest blow to global oil production ever recorded. Waiting periods of about one day outside ports are very common for arriving tankers, often due to paperwork completion or logistical arrangements related to docking. However, export flows from Yanbu—which have averaged 2.7 million barrels per day so far this month—remain slightly above half of the target level, suggesting they are likely to rise further in the coming days. These flows averaged 2.9 million barrels per day in the week ending March 12, up from 1.9 million barrels per day during the first five days of the month. Yanbu has massive crude-loading capacity, with two export terminals: Yanbu North and Yanbu South (also known as Al-Muajjiz). Together, the two facilities have seven berths, each theoretically capable of loading one VLCC per day. Any increase in crude volumes pumped through the Saudi East-West pipeline—which runs from Abqaiq to Yanbu—is likely to take four to ten days to appear, based on standard pipeline flow rates of three to eight miles per hour. Earlier this week, Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco, said the company is working to increase crude flows through the pipeline, indicating that additional barrels may begin arriving at the Red Sea coast by the end of this weekend. |
