Saudi Aramco Continues LPG Cancellations at Juaymah, Ramps up Yanbu Loadings: Sources

Saudi Aramco continues to suspend LPG cargo loadings from the Juaymah NGL terminal at the port of Ras Tanura, with July-loading cargoes also cancelled, trade sources said.

Sources attributed the continued cancellations to the collapse of the Juaymah NGL pipeline on Feb. 23, with repair works yet to be completed. Around one to two cargo loadings were cancelled following the incident in late February, while all subsequent loadings were also withdrawn.

Some market participants had expected repairs to be completed by June. However, sources said these may have been delayed by the Middle East war, with work potentially deferred until conditions stabilize.

To offset the shortfall from Juaymah, Saudi Aramco has increased LPG loadings from its Yanbu facility.

“Yanbu’s monthly average VLGC loadings were around three cargoes last year. This doubled to around five to six cargoes in March and April,” a Singapore-based analyst said, referring to very large gas carrier loadings.

Vortexa data showed exports from the Yanbu terminal averaged around 100,000 metric tons per month last year, before rising to around 190,000 mt in March this year following the Juaymah pipeline collapse. Volumes have since continued to increase, with June exports projected to reach a record high of around 300,000 mt.

In contrast, exports from Juaymah totaled around 480,000 mt in February and fell to zero in subsequent months, the same data shows.

Overall Middle East exports fell from 3.82 million mt in February to 2.14 million mt in March following the pipeline outage and the start of the Iran war. June exports are currently estimated at around 1.52 million mt.

—Reporting by Cheryl Lee, clee@opisnet.com; Editing by Mei-Hwen Wong, mwong@opisnet.com