Saudi Aramco is assessing offers into a semi-term tender to buy a monthly 35,000-40,000 tonnes of gas oil from March to December supplies, traders said on Friday.

The tender closed on Thursday, with offers to stay valid until January 28. The cargoes of 0.5 percent, if awarded, are slated for the region on the Red Sea.

Saudi Arabia has turned a net importer of diesel for at least over the last two years, thanks to petrodollar investment on road and building infrastructure.

'The country is short on diesel supplies on the Red Sea. It makes more economic sense to import barrels into the Red Sea,' said a trader in Singapore.

Most of the spot diesel imports into the kingdom usually hail from the Mediterranean, and sometimes from India and neighbouring countries in the Middle East when supplies from the West are limited.

Aramco also sells a regular cargo of heavy sulphur gas oil of more than one percent each month, which is used as a blending stock for fuel oil.-Reuters