Houthi armed forces create chain reaction by attacking ships in the Red Sea. Asian crude oil buyers in talks with Saudi Aramco on alternative routes.

According to reports, several informed traders revealed that at least two Asian crude oil buyers are discussing with Saudi Aramco whether to change the transportation route to bypass Africa after the Houthi armed group attacked a Red Sea oil tanker. Traders said that refineries are considering alternative solutions to avoid the chokepoint at the southern end of the Red Sea - the Bab el-Mandeb strait. These solutions may include lifting oil from the Sidi Kerir port in the Mediterranean Sea of Egypt instead of the Yanbu port in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea hub. Traders said that if Asian buyers want to receive crude oil in the Mediterranean region, one option is for Saudi Aramco to transport the oil from Yanbu to the Egyptian Red Sea port of Ain Sukhna, and then transport it north through pipelines. Another option is for buyers to take care of the logistics within Egypt after lifting at Yanbu. Traders said that negotiations are ongoing and no final decisions have been made yet. Saudi Aramco declined to comment on the matter. If the originally planned shorter route through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait to Asia is diverted, it will need to pass through Egypt and then bypass South Africa, which will lengthen the journey. Traders said that this may extend the transportation time by up to a month. The Iran-backed Houthi armed group in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attacks on two oil tankers in the Red Sea, causing new turmoil in the global oil market. The attacks further amplify the risks of energy transportation in the Middle East. The US-Iran conflict has resulted in millions of barrels of crude oil unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and the Red Sea route has always been an important alternative transportation route. Traders are beginning to reassess the chain effects of the Red Sea attacks, and crude oil futures prices rose on Thursday. Brent crude oil prices broke through $98 per barrel, rising by more than a third so far this month. Saudi Arabia usually sells oil to customers west of the Suez Canal through Egypt. Fully loaded large crude oil tankers cannot pass through the Suez Canal, so Saudi Arabia tends to use smaller vessels or pipelines for transportation. As of the time of writing, WTI crude oil prices rose by 3.81% to $90.14 per barrel, and Brent crude oil prices rose by 4.41% to $98.22 per barrel.