Brent, US crude rise $5 a barrel as Saudi Arabia cancels cargoes and halts Yanbu loadings

Saudi Arabia has cancelled some oil cargoes as well as suspending loadings at Yanbu. The Red Sea port's storage covers only five to seven days of exports, and the East-West pipeline remains shut after a September attack.

Brent crude and US crude futures rose $5 a barrel on Tuesday, September 15, up from more than $3 a barrel as the move first took hold. The price jump has widened after Saudi Arabia cancelled some oil cargoes, in addition to suspending loadings at Yanbu.

Shipping sources told Reuters that oil loadings at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu had been suspended. Saudi Arabia has also cancelled some oil cargoes.

The East-West pipeline, which normally carries 4 to 5 million barrels a day around the Strait of Hormuz, has been shut since a drone attack hit two pump stations on September 10, according to satellite imagery. Officials have said the line may eventually resume at reduced capacity but have not said how much that would be. The repair timeline has since stretched from an initial three to five weeks to six to eight weeks.

Yanbu's own storage covers only five to seven days of exports. With the pipeline still down and loadings halted at the port, Saudi Arabia is more reliant on shipping crude through the Strait of Hormuz to reach buyers.

The cargo cancellations add to constraints on Saudi exports that were already in place.