Record oil shipping costs strain long-haul crude trade

An acute shortage of very large crude carriers has pushed oil freight rates to record highs, straining the economics of long-distance crude shipments.

• Shipping costs have jumped as available tankers have tightened, with a Houston-to-Asia voyage now adding about $26 per barrel, roughly $52 million per cargo.
• Very large crude carrier earnings exceeded $1.2 million per day and Suezmax earnings surpassed $300,000 daily, lifting major tanker firms' market value closer to a record $70 billion.
• Vortexa data shows US-to-Asia crude flows declined as shipping costs roughly tripled, with refiners turning to shorter routes, including a Japanese refinery buying Alaskan crude.
• Trafigura chief economist Saad Rahim said oil transport has never been this costly, as freight's rising share of crude value makes logistics a bigger market factor.