Latest news with #AlexLongley
Mint
15 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
Oil Freight Rates Jump in Mideast as Iran Conflict Fans Risk
(Bloomberg) -- Oil-shipping rates for Middle Eastern routes have spiked after some tanker owners and managers paused offering vessels as they assess risks from Israel's conflict with Iran, fueling concerns over flows from the region. Key rates for supertankers voyaging from the Middle East to East Asia rose almost 60% in less than a week, according to shipbrokers and charterers, as exporters who had been trying to book ships were met with few offers. They asked not to be identified as they're not authorized to speak publicly. Meanwhile, some owners with tankers that had been provisionally chartered as of Friday, pending confirmation of the booking, chose not to extend the agreements into the weekend, one of them said. The global oil market has been transfixed by the conflict in the Middle East, with Israeli strikes on Iranian energy and nuclear infrastructure roiling prices. While the likelihood of significant supply disruptions may be remote at this stage, the stability of shipping in and around the Middle East will be closely watched. The region is home to about a third of the world's production, and major exporters such as Saudi Arabia have limited scope to divert exports if needed. As hostilities have intensified, tanker owners are monitoring conditions for navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that links the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. Though ship diversions haven't yet been spotted, owners are holding back on fixing new voyages in the Gulf, setting the stage for higher freight rates and the possibility of disruptions. The benchmark rate for a supertanker capable of hauling 2 million barrels of crude from the Middle East to China — the TD3C route — jumped to 70 to 71 Worldscale points on Monday, up from about 44 last Thursday, before Israel struck Iran, according to shipbrokers. Worldscale points are a percentage of an underlying flat rate, which is set for each major route at the start of the year. On a per-day basis, chartering costs were near $46,000 on Monday, according to data from the Baltic Exchange. That's up by more than $12,000 from the prior session, the biggest gain since February last year. Forward-freight agreements — a derivative that allows buyers to lock in future rates — have increased as an indication of caution across the sector. FFAs for the TD3C route rose to around $14.50 a ton at one point on Monday, compared with about $11 before Israel's attacks on Iran. --With assistance from Alex Longley and John Deane. (Updates throughout with latest rates.) More stories like this are available on
Bloomberg
23-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Tariff Volley Is Redrawing a Key Fuel Trade Between the US and China
Welcome to our guide to the commodities markets powering the global economy. Today, reporter Alex Longley looks at how the US-China tariff war is affecting a lucrative segment of the fuel trade. A typically quiet corner of the oil market is being thrust into the center of President Donald Trump's tariff war with China.
Bloomberg
26-02-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Trafigura Says US Policy on Iran Is Oil's Big Bullish Risk
By , Alex Longley, and Kriti Gupta Updated on Save Trafigura Group's head of oil trading Ben Luckock said that US foreign policy towards Iran is the biggest upside risk to crude prices in an otherwise well supplied market. 'The two big unknowns are – how is the US going to deal with it's trade issue with China and then how is the US going to deal with Iran and I think the Iranian one is the one that we need to watch out for,' Luckock said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. 'You may find that pressure on Iran backs it into a corner and then we have to be careful.'
Bloomberg
05-02-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Saudi Aramco Boosts Oil Prices to Asia as Mideast Crude Soars
By , Alex Longley, and Sherry Su Save Saudi Arabia hiked the price of its flagship crude to Asia by the most in more than two years as the kingdom responds to surging premiums for Middle Eastern crude and improving refinery margins. State producer Saudi Aramco raised the price for its Arab Light oil to Asia for March by $2.40 a barrel, according to a price list seen by Bloomberg. That's the biggest increase since August 2022. The gain is larger than the $2 hike expected by traders and refiners surveyed by Bloomberg following significant swings in Middle Eastern crude prices in January.
