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SINGAPORE\/NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia has sold about 60 million barrels of \u200bcrude from its Gulf port of Ras Tanura inside the Strait of Hormuz for loading \u200cvia ship-to-ship transfer at the Omani port of Sohar this month and next, multiple trade sources said on Friday.<\/strong><\/p>\n The rebound in state oil company Saudi Aramco\u2019s exports from inside the Gulf to 1 million to 1.5 million barrels \u200bper day on average, similar to or slightly higher than August\u2019s levels, has cooled \u200bglobal oil prices as it could make up for some of the \u2060volume lost at its Red Sea port of Yanbu, where exports slowed after the \u200bEast-West pipeline was attacked.<\/p>\n Chinese and South Korean refiners are among the top buyers of the \u200bspot supplies, while some volumes will be going to India and Japan, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of office hours.<\/p>\n Global oil futures \u200bfell more than $1 a barrel on Friday on reports that Saudi Arabia was seeking to \u200breturn about half the capacity of the East-West pipeline within days and the nation was offering more crude \u200ccargoes \u2060to Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers off Sohar.<\/p>\n The increased Gulf exports are a boon for buyers in Asia, the main market for Saudi Arabian crude although supertanker freight rates have also hit a record this week.<\/p>\n The freight rate to charter a very large crude \u200bcarrier to load 2 \u200bmillion barrels of oil \u2060in early October from Fujairah to Asia hit 800 Worldscale rate, according to a shipbroking firm.<\/p>\n On Friday, the Petroleum Association of Japan \u200bsaid the country\u2019s oil refiners have secured sufficient crude supplies through November, \u200bpointing to \u2060the ship-to-ship transfers occurring outside the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some cases, oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz at Saudi Arabia\u2019s risk before being transferred to us outside the Gulf. For \u2060that \u200breason, supplies from Saudi Arabia have not ceased entirely,\u201d \u200bPAJ President Shunichi Kito said in Tokyo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n