Saudi Aramco resumes oil loading at Ras Tanura in boost to supply

Crude oil storage tanks at the Juaymah Tank Farm in Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in 2018. Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images Saudi Aramco resumed crude loadings on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf after a near four-month halt, shipping data showed, as the world's biggest oil exporter joined a rush to move cargoes amid industry hopes of a return to normal. The Saudi oil loadings come even though a ship belonging to Taiwan's Evergreen Marine was hit by an unknown object in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. Middle Eastern producers had been ramping up oil and gas output and exports in the lead-up to the interim deal between the United States and Iran to halt the war and reopen the strait where a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies used to pass. Two Very Large Crude Carriers controlled by Saudi's shipping arm Bahri were seen loading crude at Ras Tanura, the world's biggest oil port, while another is heading towards the terminal, the data showed on Friday. A fourth VLCC waited nearby. Each VLCC is capable of loading 2 million barrels of oil. Saudi Aramco, among the last of major Gulf producers to resume exports from inside the Gulf, declined to comment. British navy agency UKMTO paused its operation to escort ships through the strait after the attack on the cargo ship, reigniting concerns about whether the preliminary deal to end the Iran war will hold. Two U.S. …