By Devika Krishna Kumar and Jonathan Saul NEW YORK/LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s national shipping firm, Bahri, has provisionally chartered up to 19 supertankers this week, with six set to take about 12 million barrels of Saudi crude to the United States, according to data and sources, as Riyadh ramps up shipments amid a price war with Russia.
Saudi’s state oil giant Aramco said on Tuesday it would boost oil supplies to a record 12.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, or 300,000 bpd above its maximum production capacity.
Bahri’s efforts to book tankers has driven market activity over the past two days, shipping sources said, helping send freight rates for supertankers or Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) surging.
The shipments to the United States would mark a sharp increase from recent years, when Saudi Arabia reduced output in tandem with other top producers to prop up prices and the United States increased its own shale production to record levels.
But on Saturday Saudi slashed prices for its crude to customers worldwide after OPEC failed to reach an agreement with the world’s No. 2 oil producer, Russia to deepen production cuts aimed at shoring up prices.
“The discount now priced into Saudi Arabian crude has seen more bookings going West, and it has been a very long time since we have seen Bahri itself (and its predecessor Vela) book VLCCs to carry Saudi crude to the USG (U.S. Gulf Coast), which was a common occurrence prior to the shale revolution,” broker Clarksons Platou Securities said in a note.
“The taps are opening again on the long-haul MEG-USG trade and that Saudi Arabia, now looking to export above its max production capacity, is likely to need more ships to cater to its own transportation.”
Over the past four weeks, shipments of Saudi crude to the United States have averaged 431,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. (Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York, Jonathan Saul and Ron Bousso in London; Editing by Sandra Maler and Alison Williams)
By Gabriel Stargardter CALAIS, France, July 4 (Reuters) – Early one morning this week, a dinghy motored along a vast beach in northern France, stopping every few hundred meters to pick up...
Major General Mikhail Gudkov, deputy head of the Russian Navy who was praised and promoted by President Vladimir Putin, has been killed in action, depriving Moscow of one of its most senior officers, the Russian military said on Thursday.
In one of the UK’s largest drug seizures of the past decade, UK Border Force officers have seized cocaine with an estimated street value of £96 million (USD 130 million)...
July 2, 2025
Total Views: 1569
Get The Industry’s Go-To News
Subscribe to gCaptain Daily and stay informed with the latest global maritime and offshore news
— just like 109,124 professionals
Secure Your Spot
on the gCaptain Crew
Stay informed with the latest maritime and offshore news, delivered daily straight to your inbox
— trusted by our 109,124 members
Your Gateway to the Maritime World!
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.