Saudi Aramco has asked buyers in Asia to offer ‌April crude oil loading plans for both its main Gulf export terminal ​of Ras Tanura and Yanbu on the Red Sea as war ​in Iran disrupts ​exports, multiple sources said.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz at the southern end of the Gulf near ⁠Iran remains largely halted, forcing producers including Saudi Arabia to adjust their export plans and output.

For April-loading cargoes, Aramco asked Asian buyers to submit nomination plans for both Ras ​Tanura and ‌Yanbu, the sources said. ⁠The Yanbu ⁠option applies only to the purchase of Arab Light crude.

Aramco has ​also extended the deadline for buyers ‌to submit their nominations until Friday, two ⁠of the sources said.

Allocations for Asia are typically released around the 10th of each month. They are watched by traders as an indicator of demand in the world's largest crude-importing region.

Aramco declined to comment.

The world's top oil exporter has been rerouting some of its export-bound crude by pipeline to Yanbu to avoid the Strait of Hormuz.

Yanbu ‌loadings averaged 2.2 million bpd in the ⁠first nine days of March, up from ​1.1 million bpd in February, LSEG data showed.

Saudi Arabia was exporting around 6 million bpd through the Strait of Hormuz before ​the war ‌began.

(Reporting by Siyi Liu in Singapore and ⁠Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; ​editing by Louise Heavens and Jason Neely)