Saudi Arabia denies claims it bought 25 oil tankers

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Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy denied claims that the Kingdom had purchased 25 oil tankers, saying the information was incorrect, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The Ministry was responding to remarks by Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Al-Abbadi and Ali Al-Shatari, Chairman and Director General of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), during a session of Iraq’s Council of Representatives. They had said Saudi Arabia’s purchase of 25 oil tankers had contributed to higher transportation costs for Iraqi oil.

The Ministry said Saudi Arabia had not purchased the 25 tankers referred to, adding that the claim was incorrect. It stressed that the clarification did not affect the Kingdom’s right to make commercial and investment decisions based on its needs and interests.

The sharp rise in oil transportation costs was driven by other factors, including the region’s military escalation, publicly announced Iranian attacks on vessels, disruptions to navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, higher shipping risks and insurance costs, and a decline in the number of tankers willing to operate in the region, the Ministry said.

These conditions had pushed shipping costs in the region to exceptional levels, the Ministry said, adding that attributing higher Iraqi oil transportation costs to Saudi Arabia did not reflect the actual factors driving the increase in shipping costs.