Vienna (Reuters) – There are currently 10.5 million barrels of Saudi crude in floating storage off the Egyptian Red Sea port of Ain Sukhna, down by almost half from mid-June, according to data from oil analytics firm Vortexa.
On June 14, Vortexa had observed 19.5 million barrels of Saudi crude on board 10 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) outside Ain Sukhna, most of which was loaded in the second half of May.
The last time Saudi crude was stored on ships in such large volumes was in the second quarter of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a collapse in global oil demand, Vortexa said.
All but one of the 10 VLCCs observed on June 14 have been unloaded, Vortexa analyst Jay Maroo said.
Currently, five VLCCs laden with Saudi crude are in floating storage off Ain Sukhna, Maroo said.
There are two other ships carrying 4.1 million barrels of Saudi crude waiting off the port, but they do not technically count as floating storage yet, Maroo said.
Oil producer Saudi Aramco declined to comment
