Saudi Oil Delivery Times to Asia Could Rise 2.5-Fold, Report Says

Delivery times for Saudi Arabian oil shipments to Asia could increase roughly 2.5 times if the Bab el-Mandeb Strait becomes unavailable for transit, according to a report by Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper cited by Russian news agency TASS.

The report said that should the strait be closed, oil tankers would need to reroute via the Suez Canal and around the Cape of Good Hope, a journey that would take approximately 100 days round trip.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a key maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, and is used extensively for oil shipments moving from the Middle East toward Asian markets.

TASS did not provide additional detail beyond the figures attributed to the Asahi Shimbun report regarding the potential impact on shipping schedules or the broader implications for oil markets.