TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsMiddle East crude premiums surge, Asian refiners seeking alternatives
Red Sea attacks, slow Hormuz transit and crude oil loading suspension tighten supply, push up prices.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
A handout picture released by the Marine Nationale (French Navy) on May 6, 2026 shows the French Navy's Carrier Strike Group that includes the flagship aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (unseen) and its escort transiting the Suez Canal en route to the southern Red Sea to pre-position for a possible mission to restore navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. (AFP/Marine Nationale)
S
pot premiums for Middle Eastern crude benchmarks hit their highest in two months as attacks on two tankers in the Red Sea triggered a rerouting of some Saudi oil shipments via a route that circles Africa, further disrupting supply flows.
The attacks in the Red Sea by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis came after renewed US and Iran strikes in the Middle East and shipping blockades on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz again choked oil shipments through that crucial waterway, slowing crude oil and fuel exports to Asia.
Spot premiums for Middle East benchmark Dubai to swaps doubled on Thursday to $12.74 a barrel, while Oman's premium climbed to $12.62, Reuters data showed. Both premiums are the highest since end-May.
Consultancy Energy Aspects said in a note on Thursday that it expects premiums to rise further and the spread between Brent and Dubai to narrow as the ship attacks will prompt more cargo diversions and deter shipping through Bab el-Mandeb, the strait that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
Brent's premium to Dubai settled at $13.22 per barrel on Thursday, the highest since May 4, according to LSEG data.
The premium for Abu Dhabi's flagship Murban crude surged to $19.04, the highest since April 7, on tight supply for light-sour crude as ship attacks in the Black Sea compounded the supply problems in the Middle East.
Kazakhstan said on Thursday it had reduced oil production after suspected Ukrainian drone attacks forced its main export terminal for CPC Blend crude on the Black Sea to close.
Middle Eastern grades had traded at wide discounts earlier this month during the short-lived truce between the United States and Iran.
The rising security threat has already forced several oil tankers to change course in the Red Sea to head north towards the Suez Canal even as two Chinese supertankers exited on Thursday from Bab el-Mandeb into the Gulf of Aden.
Saudi Aramco has offered additional crude cargoes for loading from Egypt's Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, according to five trading sources.
Several Asian refiners are looking for cargoes and vessels loading from the Egyptian port, two traders said.
South Korea's largest refiner SK Energy has chartered a very large crude carrier (VLCC) to load 2 million barrels of crude from Sidi Kerir to Ulsan on August 18-20 at a lump-sum freight rate of $18.5 million, shipping sources said. The Korean refiner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"Buyers are now scrambling to secure supplies, with Japanese and South Korean refiners rushing into the market to buy cargoes," said one of the traders with a refiner, adding that the North Asia refiners are seeking Atlantic Basin crude.
Two major Chinese refiners bought most of the September-loading Russian ESPO Blend cargoes available from the Pacific port of Kozmino, and Indian refiners have also stepped up purchases of Russian oil.
