Red Sea Maze under Houthi Blockade: Saudi Oil Tankers Quietly "Vanish"

After the Houthi blockade of the Red Sea, Saudi oil tankers have largely turned off their AIS systems to avoid attacks, leaving loadings at key terminals such as Yanbu port in a "dark ship" state, severely distorting export data. Different agencies estimate exports for the same period with discrepancies of millions of barrels per day, while IEA and OPEC face unprecedented uncertainty in their judgments on global supplies. Though Saudi Arabia has diverted some crude northward to mitigate risks, its actual export volumes and destinations have now slipped into a "data black hole," heightening volatility risks in oil price pricing.