RoydadNaft –  Saudi Arabia has sold close to 100 million barrels of crude for October and November delivery to Asian customers after a temporary shutdown of its East-West oil pipeline forced the kingdom to move more oil through the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway off Iran.

According to Roydad Naft, Bloomberg reported on September 24, 2026, citing traders familiar with the market, that the volume is roughly equal to one day of global oil consumption. Buyers include Chinese state companies and small independent “teapot” refiners, as well as petrochemical refiners in India, South Korea, and Japan.

Sources said Saudi Arabia offered to handle logistics and shipping of the cargoes to Asia.

Bloomberg estimates the large Aramco sales could more than double the volume of crude moving from the Strait of Hormuz to Asia compared with recent levels.

The push follows the shutdown of Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline. The line, with capacity of about 4 million barrels a day, had been used to move crude from the Eastern Province to Yanbu on the Red Sea and reduce reliance on Hormuz.

During the outage, Saudi Arabia offered customers crude from Ras Tanura, then ship-to-ship (STS) transfer at Oman’s port of Sohar, outside the Strait of Hormuz.

The kingdom has also increased its own tanker operations in the Hormuz area. Higher shipments on that sea route help keep oil flowing to Asia and limit the pipeline accident’s effect on the global market.

Saudi Arabia restarted part of the East-West pipeline this week. A return to normal flows of about 4 million barrels a day may still take weeks.

While Red Sea export recovery is awaited, extra shipments through Hormuz help the kingdom hold supply to its main Asian customers. The additional barrels can also ease some concern about a possible shortage and thereby limit pressure for a sudden jump in oil prices.