State-run Aramco has been asking Asian customers to take oil deliveries from the Egyptian port, near the Suez Canal exit from the Red Sea, as some shipowners are avoiding Yanbu fearing Houthi attacks. Meanwhile, Asian refiners are pressing Saudi Arabia for discounts to offset the higher freight costs and longer transit times required for these cargoes that need to sail around Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

A Saudi crude tanker rerouted through the Suez Canal to dodge the Red Sea after Houthi threats, adding about a month to its voyage to Asia.

By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com The Houthi threats to shipping in the Red Sea and its chokepoint, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, have forced at least one oil tanker carrying…