Saudi Arabia Turns to Kuwait for Fuel Amid Russian Supply Dip
In a strategic shift to meet its soaring summer power demands, Saudi Arabia has resumed importing fuel oil from Kuwait for the first time in over two years. This change comes as the Kingdom experiences a decline in discounted fuel supplies from Russia. According to trade sources and shipping data analyzed by firms Kpler and Vortexa, Saudi Arabia imported over 180,000 metric tons of high sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) from Kuwait in July, marking the first such purchase since May 2022.
This holiday season, give to:
Truth and understanding
The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting.
They all said they cover it.
We see it.
We report with just one agenda: the truth.
The shift is partly attributed to the reduced availability of Russian fuel oil, which has decreased significantly from nearly 750,000 tons in July last year to about 441,000 tons this July. Despite this, Russian supplies still constitute about 30% of Saudi Arabia’s total fuel oil imports. The competition for Russian HSFO has intensified, particularly from China and India, prompting Saudi Arabia to seek alternative sources like Kuwait.