Aramco pivots from producing to buying fuel amid shortages

Saudi oil giant Aramco, who normally is an oil and energy producer, has been looking to buy thousands of tons of diesel due to shortages from Houthi attacks.

Aramco will be looking to secure its diesel from the Mediterranean, bidding for diesel cargoes in a pricing window operated by Platts, a unit of S&P Global, according to brokers monitoring the activity.

It’s par for the course for oil and gas companies to buy replacement cargoes if their normal source of supply isn’t available, which in Aramco’s case is very much true as the oil giant has been looking for gasoline in Europe too.

September has marked a significant escalation in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, especially fuel infrastructure, as the kingdom had its refinery at Yanbu hit along with the Jazan processing plant on the Red Sea coast, not to mention the targeting of the critical East-West oil pipeline.

It seems the Houthis are taking a page out of Ukraine’s book, as the latter’s attacks on Russian fuel infrastructure has caused significant ripples within and without the country; with long fuel lines at Russian gas stations and the price of diesel skyrocketing abroad – leading to Trump specifically asking Zelenskyy to stop targeting Russia’s energy sector.

Fuel and energy targets have proven to be the soft spot of many countries as Iran’s iron grip on Hormuz remains firm, it seems the Houthis are not hesitant to take advantage of the fact in regards to their conflict with Saudi.

Aramco had declined to comment to Bloomberg regarding its activity in the market for diesel and gasoline.