Saudi Aramco has spent several weeks bidding for thousands of tons of diesel cargoes in the Mediterranean, brokers monitoring the activity say. The buying follows a string of attacks on the kingdom's energy facilities, including a pipeline that feeds Red Sea coast refineries and a refinery Houthi militants say they struck this week.
Saudi Aramco has been looking to secure thousands of tons of diesel in the Mediterranean after a series of attacks on its energy facilities over the past few weeks. Sometimes companies buy replacement cargoes if their normal source of supply isn't available.
The pickup in Aramco's activity predates last week's attack on a pipeline that feeds oil refineries on the kingdom's Red Sea coast, but it coincides with reported incidents involving the country's fuel-making plants over the past few months.
Aramco has been bidding for diesel cargoes in a pricing window operated by Platts, a unit of S&P Global, over several weeks, according to brokers tracking the activity. Traders active in the market said Aramco has also been looking for gasoline in Europe.
Yemen's Houthi militants said they attacked a refinery at Yanbu this week, after previously targeting the Jazan processing plant, also on the Red Sea coast. Those strikes come in addition to last week's attack on the East-West pipeline, which halted crude flows to the country's west coast. Jazan in particular has faced repeated attacks over the summer.
Aramco declined to comment.
Source: Rigzone (Bloomberg)
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