The loadings add to signs of a partial recovery in Saudi shipments, with expectations of higher volumes weighing on oil prices on Monday and helping push the Brent benchmark below $100 a barrel for the first time since September 9.
The seven vessels are Very Large Crude Carriers, or VLCCs, TankerTrackers.com said. Satellite images seen by Reuters, opens new tab appear to show seven tankers near Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura port on Sunday.
An Aramco spokesperson declined to comment.
The loading of seven tankers would suggest an increase in Saudi supplies. JP Morgan analysts said in a September 18 note that satellite data indicated Saudi oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 2.9 million barrels per day over the past six days, up from just 700,000 bpd in August.
Item 1 of 5 A satellite image shows damage at a Saudi oil facility serving the East-West Pipeline, in the Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia, September 16, 2026, following a reported attack on September 11. 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
LOADINGS SHIFT FROM RED SEA
Drone attacks forced Saudi Arabia to shut its East-West Pipeline on September 13, halting crude loadings at the kingdom’s Yanbu oil port on the Red Sea.
As a result, Aramco cancelled some crude cargo sales to European clients, while boosting sales to Asia for crude it loads at its eastern ports inside the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Arabia’s crude loadings have shifted from the Red Sea to the Middle East Gulf in the past week. Its Gulf crude loadings have averaged about 3.7 million bpd since September 12, up from 2.9 million bpd earlier in the month, according to Vortexa, another company that tracks oil flows. Saudi Red Sea loadings averaged 3.9 million bpd in the September 1-11 period.
Saudi Arabia sold about 60 million barrels of crude from its Ras Tanura port inside the Strait of Hormuz for loading via ship-to-ship transfer at the Omani port of Sohar this month and next, trade sources told Reuters last week.
