Commodities
Home›Commodities›Energy›Middle East tanker risk lifts VLCC rates to record lev…
Middle East tanker risk lifts VLCC rates to record levels
A benchmark VLCC daily rate for Middle East-to-China shipments has neared $800,000, while U.S. Gulf Coast-to-Asia supertanker charters are costing about $29.5 million per run, as war risks tighten available vessels.
Oil tanker rates have jumped to record highs as escalating shipping risks in and out of the Middle East are forcing traders and tanker operators to use longer, more expensive routes, according to OilPrice.
Even though crude supply is available, the report says moving oil through the Strait of Hormuz remains highly risky amid the escalating U.S.-Iran tanker conflict in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
Oil cargoes are also being rerouted, with Saudi Arabia starting to move crude cargoes out of the region via the north of the Red Sea and from Egypt’s Mediterranean ports.
The report cites Bloomberg data showing the benchmark daily rate for a VLCC from the Middle East to China at almost $800,000, and it also notes that chartering a supertanker from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Asia now carries a lump-sum fee of $29.5 million per run, with additional war-risk and delay fees not included.
Latest closeWTI crude $97.01 ▲4.3%