File photo: the Bahri supertanker AbQaiq
Saudi Arabia is pushing more of its oil back through the Strait of Hormuz, and its state shipping company is doing it with the US military watching its back.
Bahri, the national shipping company, is sending some of its tankers through the strait in coordination with the US military, Khalid Alhammad, president of Bahri Ship Management, told an industry event in Dubai on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.
The company sent four vessels through on Tuesday alone. The kingdom is working with Washington at a government level to support the crossings, he said.
"We have to keep moving the energy," Alhammad said.
Why it matters
Bahri's tankers carry most of Saudi Arabia's crude exports. Since the war choked Hormuz, the kingdom has leaned on the East-West pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, which now carries about four million barrels a day.
That route is under fire too. The pipeline was hit again on Monday, the second attack since September.
Getting tankers back through Hormuz gives the kingdom a second door out. A wave of crossings in recent months has brought Middle East oil shipments close to prewar levels.
The risk
The crossings are dangerous. On Sunday, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it struck three tankers near the strait for using "unauthorised routes" in coordination with the US military.
Bahri has paid a price already. Several of its vessels were hit in security incidents in the third quarter, including attacks that killed two crew members, Chief Executive Ahmed Ali Al Subaey said last month.
The upside
The danger has also made the business very profitable. Bahri's third-quarter net profit jumped tenfold from a year earlier as tanker rates hit records.
Revenue at its oil-shipping unit rose 12 billion Riyal ($3.2 billion) from a year earlier, the biggest gain across the company.
What to watch
How many more Saudi cargoes move through Hormuz under US cover, and whether Iran escalates against ships that do.
