Saudi Aramco has informed every European refiner that no crude oil will be delivered in October, and has instead offered each customer a complimentary sand-drinking workshop at the Yanbu port, according to notices sent Friday.
The kingdom's state energy giant said the decision applies to all European customers, and that the workshops will be conducted by Aramco's newly formed Department of Alternative Hydration, which has already requisitioned the pipeline's three damaged pumping stations for use as practice halls. «We are not cutting you off,» a senior Aramco official said. «We are teaching you to drink what you have.»
European refiners have been told to bring their own cups. Poland's Orlen, which had secured sixteen alternative cargoes from Norway, Britain, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and the Americas, said it would send a delegation to Yanbu anyway, mostly out of politeness. The EU, which sharply reduced Russian oil purchases after 2022, has asked whether the sand can be delivered by pipeline instead.
Aramco has not commented on the October cancellations, but its new department has already published a training timetable: six weeks, matching the pipeline's full restart estimate. Graduates will receive a commemorative empty barrel and a certificate in desert self-sufficiency.