# Asian refiners seek to avoid picking Saudi crude from Red Sea 2026-08-17T12:36:22+00:00 | Business & Economy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Asian refiners are asking Saudi Aramco to let them collect crude from Egypt instead of the Red Sea port of Yanbu, after Houthi attacks on shipping in the region. At least two refiners have requested that their September contracted cargoes be shifted to Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean, according to a Bloomberg report. The requests come as shipowners become reluctant to navigate the Bab el-Mandeb strait, where Iran-backed Houthi militants have attacked tankers and energy infrastructure. The higher cost of moving crude from Sidi Kerir to Asia via a longer route around Africa may lead one refiner to skip its monthly allocation altogether, traders told Bloomberg. Aramco has already redirected some Saudi cargoes to Sidi Kerir for September. Refiners in Japan and South Korea were asked to collect from Egypt, while those in China, Taiwan and India were mostly told to take shipments from Yanbu. Aramco lowered its main crude price for Asian buyers for September, offering the deepest discount since 2020, though the price applies only to crude loaded at Ras Tanura in the Persian Gulf. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Bloomberg, Houthi militants, Red Sea, Saudi Aramco Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/asian-refiners-seek-to-avoid-picking-saudi-crude-from-red-sea/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/asian-refiners-seek-to-avoid-picking-saudi-crude-from-red-sea/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/