Tanker rates have topped $1 million a day for the first time as shipowners balk at sending vessels into the Strait of Hormuz. The squeeze is pushing up the delivered cost of crude oil, and U.S. authorities are now investigating suspected cyberattacks on tankers headed for the Gulf Coast.
Gulf tanker rates smash $1 million a day
The daily rate for chartering a tanker topped $1 million for the first time in history, as owners grow reluctant to send vessels into the Strait of Hormuz. Bloomberg reported that tankers picking up crude from inside the Persian Gulf fetched as much as $1.035 per day, citing Baltic Exchange data. Rates outside the Gulf climbed too: a tanker hauling crude from the Gulf of Oman to China now commands $644,000 a day.
Yet the risk premium is not confined to the Middle East. Costs are rising at Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk on fears of Ukrainian drone strikes on ships and port infrastructure. In the week to September 6, the Aframax rate from Novorossiysk to West India rose 2.7% and the rate to North China climbed 3.1%, the seventh straight weekly increase for both routes.
Inventories draw down as pipeline stays shut
Higher freight bills are adding to a market already short of buffers. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated an inventory build of over 7 million barrels last week, but that gain is unlikely to ease the squeeze because Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline remains offline after a drone attack.
The International Energy Agency says global observed oil inventories fell 95 million barrels in August, for a cumulative loss of 507 million barrels since February — roughly 2.8 million barrels a day. Oil on water dropped another 65 million barrels as attacks on Hormuz shipping continued.
Cyberattack probe adds to shipping risk
Adding to the strain, U.S. federal authorities are investigating a possible cyberattack on tankers sailing from Europe to the United States. The Wall Street Journal reported that at least two vessels — one carrying crude, one carrying liquefied gas — were targeted near Gibraltar and inspected on arrival at the Gulf Coast in August.
Gibraltar sees roughly 300 ships pass through daily, and officials suspect an unfriendly nation could be involved. Rear Admiral Jason Tama, who heads the U.S. Coast Guard's Cyber Command, told the Journal: "there's always a risk of an oil spill."
Because insurance and charter costs have surged, buyers now prefer owning tankers outright. Argus analyst Erica Tsirikou said a second-hand very large crude carrier now sells for about $182 million versus $130 million for a newbuild, while used Suezmaxes and Aframaxes are similarly outpricing new vessels.
The imbalance has deepened since March and worsened further as Saudi Aramco cancels European cargoes while it repairs the pipeline.
Source: Oilprice.com
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