Asian refiners seek Saudi Aramco crude outside Red Sea over security risks
Aramco offers alternative pickup points as Houthi attacks disrupt shipping routes to Asia
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Wary of risks, Asian refiners want Saudi Aramco’s shipments to be picked outside Red Sea
Photograph: Times of India (embedded from source)
What this story says
- At least two Asian refiners requested Saudi Aramco deliver September crude at Egypt’s Sidi Kerir port instead of Yanbu on the Red Sea, citing security risks.
- Aramco asked refiners in Japan and South Korea to collect cargoes from Sidi Kerir, while those in China, Taiwan and India were directed to Yanbu.
- Higher shipping costs from Sidi Kerir around Africa may lead at least one refiner to skip its monthly allocation.
- Aramco is privately negotiating crude deliveries outside the Strait of Hormuz with some Asian refiners, a strategy also used by ADNOC.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 2 of the 9 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
50/100
Craft
85/100
Hype
15/100
9 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Asian refiners have asked Saudi Aramco to deliver September crude cargoes at Egypt’s Sidi Kerir port on the Mediterranean instead of Yanbu on the Red Sea. The requests follow attacks on tankers and energy infrastructure in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi militants, which have made shipowners reluctant to navigate the area. At least two refiners approached Aramco about the change, according to reports by Bloomberg and Oil Price.
Aramco has asked refiners in Japan and South Korea to collect their September allocations from Sidi Kerir, while those in China, Taiwan and India were mostly directed to Yanbu. The total quantity of crude allocated for September remains unclear. Some cargoes had already been redirected to Sidi Kerir before Aramco finalised its September sales, as reported by the Times of India.
The higher cost of shipping crude from Sidi Kerir around Africa to Asia may lead at least one refiner to forgo its monthly allocation, traders told Bloomberg. Aramco has also begun offering crude oil outside the Strait of Hormuz to some Asian refiners through private negotiations, a strategy similar to that used by the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), according to Reuters and Business Standard.
What the coverage left out
No left-rated outlet ran this story. None of the digests or reports mentioned the discount Aramco applied to its main crude price for Asian buyers in September, which the Times of India reported as the deepest since 2020. The total quantity of crude Aramco allocated for September also remains unreported across all outlets.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 17 Aug 2026, 17:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
4 rated outlets
- The four centre-rated reports led on the security risks in the Red Sea and the refiners’ requests to avoid Yanbu. Oil Price and Bloomberg both reported that at least two Asian refiners asked Aramco to deliver crude at Sidi Kerir instead of Yanbu, and that the higher shipping costs could lead one refiner to skip its allocation. Reuters and Market Screener focused on Aramco’s private negotiations to supply crude outside the Strait of Hormuz.
- Oil Price quoted anonymous trading sources describing the Houthi threats as the reason for the shift, and noted that Aramco had already rerouted some cargoes to Sidi Kerir. The report also specified that the Houthis are allowing China-linked vessels to move in the Red Sea. Bloomberg’s digest did not mention the Strait of Hormuz negotiations.
Right
3 rated outlets
- The three right-rated digests led on the disruption to shipping routes and Aramco’s response. The Times of India’s full report described the reluctance of Asian refiners to pick up crude from Yanbu, citing the difficulty of finding vessels willing to navigate the Red Sea. It quoted traders saying that the higher cost of shipping from Sidi Kerir could lead at least one refiner to forgo its allocation.
- The Times of India also reported that Aramco had asked refiners in Japan and South Korea to collect cargoes from Sidi Kerir, while those in China, Taiwan and India were directed to Yanbu. Business Standard’s digest mentioned Aramco’s talks with buyers to supply crude via ship-to-ship transfers off Fujairah in the UAE. Protothema’s digest described Egypt’s Sidi Kerir as an “alternative gateway” to Asia and noted that the crisis was changing the supply mechanism for the world’s largest oil market.
Read it at the source
9 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
4- Saudi Aramco offers crude outside Hormuz to some Asian refiners, sources say (opens Reuters in a new tab)
- Saudi Aramco offers crude outside Hormuz to some Asian refiners, sources say (opens Market Screener in a new tab)
Market Screener — is Market Screener biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Asian Refiners Ask to Pick Up Saudi Oil Outside Risky Red Sea (opens Bloomberg in a new tab)
- Asian Refiners Seek Alternative Pickup Point for Saudi Crude (opens Oil Price in a new tab)
Right
3- Saudi Aramco offers crude oil outside Hormuz to some Asian refiners (opens Business Standard in a new tab)
Business Standard
- Wary of risks, Asian refiners want Saudi Aramco’s shipments to be picked outside Red Sea (opens Times of India in a new tab)
Times of India — is Times of India biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Saudi Arabia: Oil Route Changes, Egypt Becomes Alternative Gateway to Asia (opens Protothema in a new tab)
Protothema — is Protothema biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
2- Aramko Is Making Oil Shipments for Sale Outside the Strait of Hormuz. (opens alsumaria.tv in a new tab)
alsumaria.tv — is alsumaria.tv biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Asian refiners resist Saudi Aramco request to load oil at Red Sea port amid Houthi threat (opens Business Times in a new tab)
Business Times — is Business Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Asian refiners seek Saudi Aramco crude outside Red Sea over security…?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 57% are rated centre, 43% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 9. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Asian refiners seek Saudi Aramco crude outside Red Sea over security… left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Asian refiners seek Saudi Aramco crude outside Red Sea over security… biased?
- Asian refiners seek Saudi Aramco crude outside Red Sea over security risks is one event reported by 9 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Asian refiners seek Saudi Aramco crude outside Red Sea over security…?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Asian refiners seek Saudi Aramco crude outside Red Sea over security…?
- 9 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Why are Asian refiners asking for crude to be delivered at Sidi Kerir instead of Yanbu?
- Asian refiners have asked Saudi Aramco to deliver September crude at Egypt’s Sidi Kerir port instead of Yanbu on the Red Sea due to security risks. Houthi attacks on tankers and energy infrastructure in the Red Sea have made shipowners reluctant to navigate the area, as reported by Bloomberg and Oil Price.
- Which refiners were asked to collect crude from Sidi Kerir?
- Saudi Aramco asked refiners in Japan and South Korea to collect their September crude allocations from Sidi Kerir, while those in China, Taiwan and India were mostly directed to Yanbu, according to the Times of India and Oil Price.
- What is the risk of shipping crude from Sidi Kerir to Asia?
- The higher cost of shipping crude from Sidi Kerir around Africa to Asia may lead at least one refiner to skip its monthly allocation, traders told Bloomberg. The longer route increases expenses, which could outweigh the benefits of avoiding the Red Sea.
- Is Aramco offering crude outside the Strait of Hormuz?
- Yes, Saudi Aramco is privately negotiating crude deliveries outside the Strait of Hormuz with some Asian refiners, a strategy similar to that used by ADNOC, as reported by Reuters and Business Standard.
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