The cost of shipping 2 million-barrel cargoes of Middle East oil to Asia, up 71 per cent since April 23, may extend its gains because of a shortage of tankers.
There are 57 very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, available for hire within the next 30 days, according to Mathieu Philippe, a tanker broker with Paris-based Barry Rogliano Salles. Cargo demand will probably match, or exceed, the number of vessels, he said.
'There are going to be enough cargoes for everyone,' Mr Philippe said yesterday by telephone from Dubai. The current supply situation will 'bring the market up gradually'.
Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's largest oil company, hired the Samco Europe at a rate of 90 Worldscale points to haul oil to Asia, according to a report yesterday from Athens-based Optima Shipbrokers. That's little-changed from the London-based Baltic Exchange's assessment of 89.53 points for voyages to Asia. Worldscale points are a percentage of a nominal rate, or flat rate, for a specific route. Flat rates, quoted in US dollars a ton, are revised annually by the Worldscale Association in London to reflect changing fuel costs, port tariffs and exchange rates.
At 89.53 Worldscale points, owners of VLCCs can earn about US$66,434 a day on a 38-day round trip from Saudi Arabia to South Korea, based on a formula by Oslo-based shipbroker RS Platou and Bloomberg bunker prices.
Rental rates may climb to 100 Worldscale points for double-hulled vessels, Mr Philippe said.
Ship fuel prices, known as bunkers, climbed US$2 a ton, or 30 cents a barrel, to US$345.5 a ton in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday.
There are 57 very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, available for hire within the next 30 days, according to Mathieu Philippe, a tanker broker with Paris-based Barry Rogliano Salles. Cargo demand will probably match, or exceed, the number of vessels, he said.
'There are going to be enough cargoes for everyone,' Mr Philippe said yesterday by telephone from Dubai. The current supply situation will 'bring the market up gradually'.
Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's largest oil company, hired the Samco Europe at a rate of 90 Worldscale points to haul oil to Asia, according to a report yesterday from Athens-based Optima Shipbrokers. That's little-changed from the London-based Baltic Exchange's assessment of 89.53 points for voyages to Asia. Worldscale points are a percentage of a nominal rate, or flat rate, for a specific route. Flat rates, quoted in US dollars a ton, are revised annually by the Worldscale Association in London to reflect changing fuel costs, port tariffs and exchange rates.
At 89.53 Worldscale points, owners of VLCCs can earn about US$66,434 a day on a 38-day round trip from Saudi Arabia to South Korea, based on a formula by Oslo-based shipbroker RS Platou and Bloomberg bunker prices.
Rental rates may climb to 100 Worldscale points for double-hulled vessels, Mr Philippe said.
Ship fuel prices, known as bunkers, climbed US$2 a ton, or 30 cents a barrel, to US$345.5 a ton in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday.