SSaudi Arabia’s crude oil exports declined strongly during the first half of 2026, as the Middle East war took its toll. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Panchero Costa said: “After a marginal decline in 2024, when global crude oil shipments fell by -0.2% y/y, things have rebounded in 2025, with full-year volumes up +1.8% y/y. However, in January-June 2026, global crude oil shipments fell by -6.1% y/y to 1,016.4 million tons,” Excluding all shipments. Coastal trade, according to ship tracking data from LSEG. Exports from the Persian Gulf fell by -30.7% year-on-year to 299.7 million tons in January 2026, and accounted for 29.5% of global seaborne crude oil trade, down sharply from the historical norm of about 40%, reflecting the ongoing war in the Persian Gulf. Exports from Russian ports (including oil of Kazakh origin) increased by +3.5%. YoY to 117.1 million tons in January-June 2026, or 11.5% of global trade, exports from South America rose +31.5% YoY to 137.6 million tons. From the United States, exports rose by +20.5% y/y to 107.3 million tons in January-June 2026. From West Africa, exports decreased by -10.4% y/y to. 78.2 million tons of ASEAN exports jumped +14.7% year-on-year to 59.8 million tons in January-June 2026 (this includes Iranian and Russian cargoes transported).”
Source: Banchero Costa
According to Panchero Costa, “In terms of demand (measured by the number of unloading port arrivals), mainland China was the largest sea importer of crude oil in January and June 2026, accounting for 20.5% of global trade. Volumes coming into China fell by -14.2% year-on-year to 209.5 million tons in January and June 2026, from 244.1 million tons in January and June 2025. Imports in the EU27 rose by +1.7% year-on-year to 227.6 million tons, representing 22.3% of global trade. For ASEAN, imports decreased by -9.7% year-on-year to 129.8 million tons and imports to India decreased by -0.3% year-on-year to 119.3 million tons in the period from January to June 2026. As for. South Korea, imports fell -18.5% y/y to 56.7 million tons. Imports to Japan fell -22.5% y/y to 44.1 million tons in January-June 2026. Imports to the United States rose +8.9% year-on-year to 62.8 million tons in January-June 2026.
The shipbroker noted, “Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest single exporter of seaborne crude oil, ahead of Russia, the United States, and Iraq. In 2025, it accounted for 14.4% of global seaborne crude oil exports. In the 12 months of 2025, Saudi seaborne crude oil exports declined by -0.4% to 319.4 million tons, excluding coastal shipping, after declining by -4.6% on a basis Annually in 2025. 2024. Volumes remained above 310.2 million tons for 2021. In January-June 2026, Saudi crude exports fell by a further -22.0% year-on-year to 123.5 million tons, from 158.4 million tons in the same period in 2025. About 91.3% of the volumes loaded in Saudi Arabia in January were transported to June 2026 on supertankers. 6.2% were transported in Suezmax aircraft, and 2.4% in Aframax, and these percentages have increased in recent years in favor of larger carriers, as Suezmax and Aframax tankers were converted to transport Russian cargo. Saudi Arabia’s main crude oil export terminals are: Yanbu (67.1 million tons, or 54.4%, in January-June 2026), and Ras Tanura (53.3 million tons, or local currency equivalent). 43.2% Ras Al Khafji (3.0 million tons or 2.4%).
Panchero Costa added, “With regard to the destinations of crude oil shipments from Saudi Arabia, the focus in recent years has clearly shifted to Asia. In the period from January to June 2026, the top destination was mainland China, representing 21.3% of total Saudi crude oil exports, followed by South Korea with 15.1%, ASEAN with 13.1%, India with 12.4%, Japan with 10.8%, and Taiwan By 3.5%. Shipments to the United States now represent only 2.9% of Saudi exports, and direct shipments to the European Union represent only 0.7%. Another 14.7% of Saudi crude exports are shipped to the Ain Sukhna terminal in Egypt to feed the SUMED pipeline, most of which will eventually end up in Europe. 37.4 million tons in January 2025
Source: Banchero Costa
The second destination was South Korea, at 18.7 million tons, down -25.9% y/y from 25.2 million tons in January-June 2025. Shipments from Saudi Arabia to ASEAN fell by -9.6% y/y in January-June 2026 to 16.2 million tons. Inbound volumes into India fell by -2.7% y-o-y in January-June 2026 to 15.3 million tonnes. Saudi Arabia also shipped 13.3 million tons this year to Japan, which represents a decline of -47.8% year-on-year from 25.5 million tons in the same period last year. Direct shipments to the EU increased by +79.3% year-on-year in January-June 2026 to 0.8 million tons, from 0.4 million tons in the same period last year, the shipbroker concluded.
Nikos Rousanoglou, Global Hellenic Shipping News
