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2026-09-21 18:32:16
[Supertanker Shortage Impacts Long-Haul Crude Oil Trade] ⑴ A global shortage of supertankers threatens the economics of long-haul crude oil trade. ⑵ Global crude oil transportation costs have soared, making some long-distance crude oil trades unprofitable and potentially disrupting an already extremely tight fuel market. ⑶ This round of freight rate increases is driven by a shortage of available supertankers, with almost no vessels available for charter in some regions. ⑷ Tight shipping capacity reduces the attractiveness of long-haul crude oil, prompting refiners to purchase locally. ⑸ Traders worry that excessively high transportation costs will make crude oil processing unprofitable for some refiners, thus inhibiting their purchases of long-haul cargoes, even with strong demand for diesel and gasoline. ⑹ On major industry benchmark routes, daily earnings for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil from the Persian Gulf to China have risen to over $1.2 million. ⑺ Similar pressures are spreading to the global freight market; further attention needs to be paid to the further impact of tight shipping capacity on crude oil trade flows and refined product supply.
