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Iran war boosts Saudi-to-China supertanker freight rates to record $647,000
Baltic Exchange data cited by Bloomberg show the benchmark route’s earnings rose more than 10 times from a year ago, with tanker premiums driven by risk and higher costs to move crude through the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil tanker freight earnings have surged to record highs as the Iran war disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, tightening the number of vessels willing to take the route, according to OilPrice citing Baltic Exchange data reported by Bloomberg.
Earnings on the benchmark Saudi Arabia-to-China supertanker route hit $647,000 per day on Thursday, up nearly 27% from $510,000 reached just 10 days earlier, and more than 10 times the rate from a year ago.
While Persian Gulf producers are increasing crude shipments through Hormuz, the change has not eased the oil supply crunch because it has created a separate constraint, ship availability, OilPrice reports. Exporters are competing for the smaller pool of tankers willing to accept the risk.
Producers have begun shuttling crude through the strait before transferring cargoes onto other tankers outside the Gulf, effectively adding two freight bills, one for Hormuz transit and another for the haul to Asia. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne earlier said moving a cargo through Hormuz cost about $20 million, and OilPrice says tanker market participants told Bloomberg those costs have risen further, with an Oman-to-China tanker rate now at roughly $220,000 per day versus $131,000 a month earlier.
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