Saudi Crude Building Off Egypt Remains High

A backlog of Saudi-owned supertankers that has built up off Egypt’s Red Sea coast shows no sign of clearing as new tankers emerged at the cluster according to Bloomberg.

• The buildup was as high as 2mn barrels floating for at least seven days, Vortexa data showed earlier this month.
• An Argus source said earlier this month this is a usual practice.
• Seven of the nation’s own super tankers and two Chinese ones are anchored near Ain Sukhna, a port at the southern end of a pipeline linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.
• Three of the tankers anchored there previously have now discharged their cargoes, but they have been replaced in the queue by three others.
• In the past five days, three supertankers carrying Saudi and Iraqi crude have offloaded enough of their cargoes to allow them to pass through the Suez Canal and refill their tanks at Sidi Kerir, a port on Egypt’s Mediterranean shore, and continue their journeys.