Saudi Arabia has sharply increased crude exports from its Red Sea terminals at Yanbu as it diverts shipments away from the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, where flows have been severely disrupted since late February, according to Bloomberg.

The closure of Hormuz has halted about 15mn barrels a day of crude shipments that would normally transit the waterway, forcing Riyadh to rely more heavily on alternative infrastructure. The kingdom is seeking to raise export volumes from its Red Sea outlets to around 5mn barrels a day, a level analysts say is within reach.

Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, which links the Abqaiq processing hub to Yanbu, has a nominal capacity of 7mn barrels a day. However, around 2mn barrels are required to supply domestic refineries in Riyadh and on the Red Sea coast at Yanbu and Jizan, as well as power generation and desalination facilities.

Crude shipments from the Yanbu South and Yanbu North terminals averaged 4.4mn barrels a day in the five days to March 24, according to vessel tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The kingdom’s rerouting efforts have effectively doubled exports from Yanbu in just over two weeks.

Even so, the shift is only partially offsetting lost volumes. The diversions are expected to cover roughly half of the disrupted Persian Gulf shipments this month, and even at target levels Saudi crude exports would remain about 2mn barrels a day below pre-conflict levels.

Logistical constraints remain significant. Around 56mn barrels of Saudi crude are currently held on tankers stranded in the Gulf after loading in late February and early March but being unable to pass through Hormuz, according to Bloomberg calculations based on ship tracking data.

At the same time, at least 40 oil tankers — many of them very large crude carriers capable of transporting about 2mn barrels each — are anchored near Yanbu awaiting cargoes.

Cargoes loaded since the diversion began have primarily been directed towards Asian markets, with China and India accounting for the bulk of shipments. Additional volumes have been sent to South Korea, Pakistan and Thailand, while Japanese demand has been met in part from storage tanks in Okinawa leased by Saudi Aramco with capacity of 8.2mn barrels.