# Aramco restarts Ras Tanura loadings after a four-month halt
> The world's biggest oil port reopens to tankers as the Gulf supply shut-in unwinds

**Meta:** type: story · date: 2026-06-26 · heads: 谁的钱, 悄然的转变 · 6 takes · 4 lenses · 5 regions

## Summary
Saudi Aramco resumed crude loadings at [Ras Tanura](/zh/entity/place/strait-of-hormuz), the world's largest oil-export terminal, on Friday after a near four-month halt, tanker-tracking data showed. Two [VLCCs](/zh/entity/vlcc-rates) run by state carrier Bahri were loading and a third was inbound, each able to lift about 2 million barrels. Aramco had not shipped from the Gulf port since March 8, diverting cargoes to the Red Sea terminal at Yanbu after Iran's blockade of [Hormuz](/zh/entity/place/strait-of-hormuz) during its war with the US and Israel shut the waterway. [Brent](/zh/entity/commodity/brent-crude) has fallen for a third straight week as the war premium unwinds. Rystad Energy estimates Gulf shut-in output dropped to 9.6 million bpd in mid-June from 11.7 million three weeks earlier.

## The split
Reuters and Gulf Times read the restart as confirmation that Gulf flows are normalising and prices have further to fall. Energy News Beat, working off Sentinel-1 radar, is more cautious: tankers are loading, but the empty ballast carriers needed to sustain exports are not yet streaming back in, hinting at lingering owner caution after recent attacks on shipping. CGTN carried the restart plainly as a supply-positive event, without the war-premium framing.

## By the numbers
- 2 million barrels, capacity of each Bahri VLCC seen loading
- March 8, date of the last Ras Tanura cargo before the halt
- 4 million bpd, Saudi crude exports over the prior three months, down from 7 million in February
- 9.6 million bpd, estimated Gulf shut-in output mid-June, from 11.7 million three weeks earlier
- 3, consecutive weekly declines in Brent as the war premium drains

## Why it matters
Ras Tanura handles the bulk of Saudi seaborne crude, so its reopening is the single clearest marker that the Hormuz disruption is reversing. A full Gulf recovery, which Rystad expects by year-end, would push barrels back into a market already pricing out the conflict and pressure [OPEC+](/zh/entity/commodity/opec) discipline as members chase volume.

## What to watch
- Whether inbound ballast VLCC traffic into the Gulf picks up, the real test of a sustained ramp
- Aramco's August official selling prices, a signal of how hard it will compete for Asian buyers
- Whether [Brent](/zh/entity/commodity/brent-crude) holds above the post-ceasefire floor or breaks lower
- Any renewed incident near Hormuz that re-freezes the recovery

## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens)

### wire of record, tanker-tracking data
- **Reuters** (United Kingdom, en) — Reuters' Florence Tan and Siyi Liu broke the loading restart off ship-tracking data, framing it as the clearest signal yet that Gulf exports are normalising. Stresses Aramco last loaded for China on March 8 and had rerouted via Yanbu during the Hormuz blockade.
  > "Two VLCCs controlled by Bahri were loading crude at Ras Tanura, the world's biggest oil port, while another headed towards the terminal."
  Source: https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/saudi-aramco-resumes-oil-loading-at-ras-tanura-after-4month-halt-data-shows-4761980

### Gulf business desk
- **Gulf Times** (Qatar, en) — Carried the Reuters file with regional emphasis: Saudi crude exports had slumped to roughly 4 million bpd over the prior three months from above 7 million bpd in February, and quotes Rystad on a 2 million bpd regional rebound in three weeks.
  > "Crude exports had slumped to around 4 million barrels a day over the previous three months, against more than 7 million in February."
  Source: https://www.gulf-times.com/article/728160/business/saudi-aramco-resumes-oil-loading-at-ras-tanura-in-boost-to-supply/amp

### satellite-imagery analysis
- **Energy News Beat** (United States, en) — Built its account on EU Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar imagery from June 26 showing tankers at the Sea Islands, and flagged the caveat: inbound ballast VLCCs heading in to refill remain scarce, suggesting a cautious, partial ramp rather than a full reopening.
  > "Inbound traffic, particularly empty ballast VLCCs heading into the Gulf to refill, remains relatively low at this stage."
  Source: https://energynewsbeat.co/crude-oil/saudi-arabia-starts-loading-tankers-at-ras-tanuras-sea-port/

### unlabelled
- **CNBC** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/27/saudi-aramco-resumes-oil-loading-at-ras-tanura-in-boost-to-supply.html
- **CGTN** (China, en) — 
  Source: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-06-27/Saudi-Aramco-resumes-oil-loading-at-Ras-Tanura-in-boost-to-supply-1OjNKNkk276/share_amp.html
- **Baird Maritime** (Australia, en) — 
  Source: https://www.bairdmaritime.com/shipping/tankers/saudi-aramco-rejoins-the-oil-rush-with-ras-tanura-export-restart

## Across the graph
- Related: [[oil-hormuz-recovery-slide-2026-06-25]], [[hormuz-vlcc-kiku-strike-jun27]], [[opec-plus-august-acceleration]], [[brent-crude-post-ceasefire-floor-2026]]
- Entities: Commodity:opec, Commodity:brent Crude, Place:strait of Hormuz, Commodity:dubai Crude, Vlcc Rates

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