Saudi Aramco loaded about 14 million barrels of crude oil on seven VLCCs inside the Persian Gulf on Sunday, data from TankerTrackers.com showed, as the kingdom increased loadings from gulf export terminals after an attack disrupted shipments via its east-west pipeline to the Red Sea.
The loadings add to signs of a partial recovery in Saudi shipments, with expectations of higher volumes weighing on oil prices on Monday and helping push the Brent benchmark below $100 a barrel for the first time since September 9.
Satellite images seen by Reuters appear to show seven tankers near Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura port on Sunday.
An Aramco spokesperson declined to comment.
The loading of seven tankers would suggest an increase in Saudi supplies. JP Morgan analysts said in a September 18 note that satellite data indicated Saudi oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 2.9 million barrels per day over the past six days, up from just 700,000 bpd in August.
Drone attacks forced Saudi Arabia to shut its east-west oil pipeline on September 13, halting crude loadings at the kingdom's Yanbu oil port on the Red Sea.
As a result, Aramco cancelled some crude cargo sales to European clients, while boosting sales to Asia for crude it loads at its eastern ports inside the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Arabia sold about 60 million barrels of crude from its Ras Tanura port inside the Strait of Hormuz for loading via ship-to-ship transfer at the Omani port of Sohar this month and next, trade sources told Reuters last week.
(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar, Enes Tunagur, and Catherine Cartier; Editing by Alex Lawler and Alexander Smith)