According to a market intelligence company Kpler, on a week ended October 7, US oil exports to Europe hit a weekly record as exports to Asia fell due to a shortfall in supertankers.
The exports to Europe on smaller vessels reached a double of the previous week’s level to 1.8 million bpd. A US shipbroker informed that demand for US Gulf Coast crude to Europe depended on the Brent-WTI spread, which was widening at the period.
On September 30, freight rates for tankers from Houston to Rotterdam rose to USD27.79/mt/trip, the highest since February and up from USD10.14/mt before the September 14 attacks on Saudi facilities. The rate was USD18.69/mt on Monday.
The spread between the US crude futures and Brent also has widened last month, boosting the incentive for US crude exports to Europe. The spread settled at a discount of USD5.62/barrel Tuesday, from USD4.07 on September 2.
Meanwhile, the freight rates soared with rates for US Gulf Coast to Asia increased by more than doubled to more than USD13.25 million, affected by the blacklist of Chinese transportation major COSCO by the US.
Matt Smith, an analyst from ClipperData commented, “As Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) rates climb, exporters will look at shorter journeys on smaller vessels. This drove US shippers to favor European routes.”
