SUMED

SUMED is now carrying a reduced share of Saudi Arabia's Red Sea crude bypass: Ain Sokhna, its Red Sea inlet, is taking only 23% of the volume Saudi Arabia has rerouted through Yanbu since the 23 July 2026 Bab el-Mandeb blockade, leaving Mediterranean refiners with a thinner backfill than the Suez Canal route alone provides. Opened in 1977 and jointly owned by Egyptian, Saudi, Kuwaiti, Qatari and other Gulf state interests, the pipeline runs overland from Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea to Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean, giving crude too large for the Suez Canal, or shippers wanting to skip canal transit fees and queues, a direct route to European markets. (Provisional seed background; full synthesis pending.)