Adds Aramco's comments in paragraphs 3-4 in story published on Monday
SINGAPORE, March 23 (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco, the world's top oil exporter, has cut crude supply to Asian buyers for a second month in April, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Monday, after the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran disrupted trade via the Strait of Hormuz.
The producer is supplying only Arab Light crude exported from the Red Sea port of Yanbu to term customers in April, the sources said, keeping supplies to Asian refineries tight and capping their refined products output.
"Saudi Aramco continues to ensure reliable energy supply by leveraging alternative export routes through Yanbu in response to evolving regional conditions," the company said in a statement.
"We remain committed to meeting our customers' expectations, with loading schedules adjusted to reflect the new realities, and customers kept informed," Saudi Aramco 2222.SE said.
Saudi Arabia has exported 4.355 million barrels per day of crude so far in March, data from analytics firm Kpler showed, down from 7.108 million bpd in February.
The producer is trying to boost crude exports via Yanbu to offset the Strait of Hormuz disruption, with loadings seen rising to record volumes in March. China's top refiner Sinopec 600028.SS is set to load about 24 million barrels of Saudi crude from Yanbu in March.
Oil loadings at the Yanbu port were briefly disrupted on Thursday after a drone crashed at Saudi Aramco's SAMREF refinery.
(Reporting by Florence Tan and Siyi Liu; Editing by Sonali Paul)
((Florence.Tan@thomsonreuters.com;))
Comments