Saudi Aramco Charters Extra Ships to Move Crude Oil to U.S.
By Petter Narvestad
Oslo, March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia's state oil company booked eight 2-million-barrel tankers to haul more than 2.2 million tons of crude oil to the U.S., arriving in May onwards, shipbroker P.F. Bassoe & Co. said in a report.
Saudi Aramco's tanker-chartering arm, Vela International Marine Ltd., booked the tankers for loading from March 27 to April 16, signaling that the world's largest oil exporter will keep supply flowing to the U.S. at a time when refiners are concerned that Iraqi supplies may be cut off by war.
``It's full steam ahead,'' said Kristofer Bystroem, a tanker broker at Stockholm Chartering. ``There are still uncovered cargoes, and as long as there's uncertainty about a war in Iraq, (tanker) rates are going to remain high.''
Vela has rushed to book tankers several times earlier this year. The latest bookings are on top of normal supply contracts, and today helped drive up tanker rates and push down oil prices.
Rates from the Persian Gulf to the U.S. Gulf Coast, measured in Worldscale points, rose to WS 125 for cargoes of 280,000 tons, the highest since December 2000, according to P.F. Bassoe. |
