Traders with knowledge of the matter said that since the middle of last week, Saudi Arabia has sold nearly 100 million barrels of crude oil to Asian buyers, helping to resolve an imminent oil supply crunch in Asia.

The crude, scheduled for October and November delivery, will be shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, with buyers including refining companies in India, Japan, and South Korea, according to traders who declined to be named.

This massive sell-off is roughly equivalent to one full day of global crude oil demand, and Saudi Arabia's crude shipments to Asia via the Strait of Hormuz have more than doubled compared to recent levels.

Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, which can bypass the Strait of Hormuz and transport crude to the Red Sea, has not been able to fully resume operations since it was attacked on September 10.

Saudi Aramco is in the early stages of restarting the pipeline, with the goal of achieving a substantial recovery by Saturday.

The pipeline outage has forced Saudi Arabia to increase crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz, and satellite data shows that crude loading volumes in the Persian Gulf surged significantly over the weekend.

Traders said a key point is that Saudi Aramco has taken the initiative to handle logistics, delivering crude all the way to Asian customers.

Saudi Aramco declined to comment.

Asian markets will be happy to receive this crude.

Due to the surge in oil prices, Indian refineries had originally considered reducing their operating rates.

Iranian crude supply has been disrupted by the U.S. blockade; at the same time, buyers are avoiding Russian crude due to rising political risks, and competition for crude grades from Africa and Latin America has intensified as a result.

During the U.S.-Iran conflict, responsibility for crude transportation gradually shifted from buyers to sellers.

Persian Gulf oil-producing countries traditionally sold crude on a free-on-board basis, meaning customers arranged their own vessels to pick up the cargo.

But after the conflict broke out, refining companies were unwilling to arrange their own ships due to concerns about the risk of attacks.

Now Gulf oil-producing countries are willing to bear more shipping risk.

Sellers such as Iraq's state-owned oil marketing company SOMO, which lack independent shipping capabilities, have traders and other intermediaries handle crude exports.

TotalEnergies, Vitol Group, Trafigura Group, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company have all participated in crude export operations from the Persian Gulf.