Saudi Aramco is racing to convert a wartime workaround into a contractual baseline before year-end, with terms that could recast how Gulf crude reaches Asia.

The state-run oil company is negotiating with customers to formalize loadings outside the Strait of Hormuz inside long-term supply contracts from 2026 onward, effectively turning the ship-to-ship transfer system that has run since the Iran war began into the new normal. Discussions must conclude before December 31.

Hormuz has been "severely disrupted" by a conflict now in its eighth month, according to Bloomberg. The shuttles — where sellers absorb the transit risk and hand cargo to other vessels outside the waterway — have kept crude flowing to Asian refiners who would otherwise struggle to secure tankers.

What is Aramco actually offering?

Three changes sit on the table. First, multi-year contractual volumes formally routed via Hormuz shuttles rather than ad hoc wartime arrangements. Second, a choice of pricing benchmark — including Brent futures, a notable break from the Dubai and Oman markers Gulf producers typically use. Third, door-to-door deliveries from the Gulf to Asian buyers, replacing the fob model where customers once arranged their own tonnage.

Aramco has also begun allowing some buyers to perform ship-to-ship transfers off the Indian coast — a route option for customers who cannot safely send vessels into the Gulf of Oman and a pressure valve for congestion around Arabian peninsula ports.

What does the shipping shift cost?

Plenty, and that is the point. Shipowners have been reluctant to enter Hormuz since the war started, even when crude is up for grabs. Tanker day rates have climbed. By arranging the shipping itself, Aramco could capture gains from those inflated hire costs — a structural margin lift if the new model sticks past the conflict.

"Aramco is also exploring ways to arrange the shipping to deliver more crude directly to customers," the people said. "These options could also allow Aramco to capture some of the gains from the soaring cost of hiring ships to traverse Hormuz."

Arab Light, Medium and Heavy grades — Aramco's three flagship export crudes — have all flowed through the shuttle system. Lifting them onto multi-year shuttle contracts would pull a large slice of Gulf crude onto a fundamentally different commercial framework.

What does this mean for Asian buyers?

Before the war, Asian refiners arranged their own vessels to collect Arab crude at Ras Tanura inside the Gulf. That arrangement unraveled when ships refused to transit. Saudi Arabia's new offer takes the shipping headache off buyers' desks — at the cost of giving Aramco more pricing leverage on the freight.

A Brent-linked option on long-term volumes would mark a real shift. Gulf contracts almost universally track Dubai/Oman. Brent pricing gives buyers with Brent-linked downstream sales a cleaner hedge and widens the bidder pool for Aramco.

What happens next?

The year-end deadline is the constraint. Sign by 31 December and 2026 liftings run on a new template — seller-controlled shipping, benchmark flexibility, optional through-delivery to Asia. Miss the deadline and the kingdom keeps improvising one shuttle at a time while the war keeps Hormuz effectively shut to most commercial tonnage.

Aramco and the Saudi Energy Ministry declined to comment. Pricing, freight and eligible volumes all remain open per the people briefed.