The rates for large tankers have recently hit a record of $1.4 million per day for trips from the Persian Gulf to East Asia. This rate increase is a result of the oil crisis that has also affected the transportation sector, leading to reduced access to ships for other routes.
Rate increases on key routes
Rates on the route from the Persian Gulf to Japan have also significantly increased. For example, one large tanker, with a capacity of 2 million barrels of oil, has been offered for this trip at $82 million, which is a 50% increase compared to three weeks ago.
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Many tankers in the global fleet are currently engaged in transferring oil via ship-to-ship (STS) outside the Strait of Hormuz. With increasing flows, more tankers are operating on this route, leading to a shortage of vessels for transporting oil from other parts of the world.
Oil transportation crisis
Radicalization in oil transportation has turned into a new crisis. Russell Hardy, CEO of Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trader, said at an energy conference in London, "We started this conflict with a crude oil crisis. Then it turned into a product crisis. Now, with increasing crude oil exports from the Middle East, we are facing a transportation crisis."
Hardy also noted that "there really aren't enough ships for everyone," and this crisis has led to increased daily rates for smaller vessels like Aframax and Suezmax. Oil producers and buyers have shifted towards the market for smaller ships as access to large tankers has become severely limited.
According to a weekly report from Fearnleys shipping company, oil supply continues to rise, and transportation data shows that regional crude oil exports from the Middle East in the last days of September have even surpassed pre-war levels. Analysts from the company added: "The smaller sisters of VLCCs, Suez and Aframax, also show no signs of decline, so there is currently nowhere to hide."
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