Aramco Finds Way to Keep Saudi Crude Flowing to China

Aramco finds a way to keep Saudi crude moving to Asia despite Strait of Hormuz disruption, using tanker transfers near Oman and the UAE. The crude tracking fund USO rose 3.3% on September 23.

Crude advances as Aramco finds a route around Hormuz

United States Oil Fund, LP (AMEX:USO), an exchange traded proxy for crude, traded at 148.83 USD. Its 52 week range is 107.49 to 163.35, and its RSI stood at 55.85. Those figures show the fund’s daily move and recent trading range, but do not explain the cause of the advance on their own.

The supply story is clearer in Saudi Arabia’s shipping plans. Aramco has offered additional September crude to Asian customers by transferring cargoes between vessels outside the strait. The arrangement lets one tanker carry the oil through the exposed stretch, then hand it over to a different ship near Fujairah in the UAE or Sohar in Oman. Buyers can receive crude without sending their own vessels through Hormuz.

How Aramco keeps crude moving beyond Hormuz

Aramco opened sales of Arab Medium and Arab Heavy through this method for a second consecutive week. Two very large crude carriers, carrying 4 million barrels combined, were reported headed to China after taking on Saudi crude through transfers off Sohar. The reported schedule listed arrivals at Zhanjiang on September 12 and Ningbo on September 15, with both cargoes intended for Sinopec.

That route matters because China lies east of Hormuz, while European buyers can be served through a different path. Earlier in September, Aramco resumed loading at Ras Tanura and Juaymah after a three week pause. At the same time, it was sending more crude west through the East West pipeline and Egypt’s Sidi Kerir terminal, avoiding the strait on deliveries to Europe.

What the available figures say about supply and demand

These shipments point to a geopolitical constraint on deliveries, not a confirmed change in Saudi production. The source data gives no production totals or inventory figures, so it cannot establish whether output or stored supplies are rising or falling. Nor does the ETF snapshot include a dollar reading. Those missing measures matter: the supplied information supports a picture of disrupted shipping and continuing Chinese demand, but it does not quantify the broader balance between supply and consumption.

The USO reading offers a market level through an ETF proxy, not a direct crude benchmark quote. Its 3.3% daily rise coincided with Saudi efforts to keep export flows moving while Hormuz remained a risk point. The transfer plan shifts the most exposed part of the journey onto Aramco’s vessels, while allowing the onward voyage to China to continue from outside the strait.

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