Asia flows boost shipping rates, displace US crude imports

NEW YORK/HOUSTON (Reuters): Robust Asian demand for West African crude is fuelling a worldwide surge in shipping rates for the largest oil tankers that is being felt from Houston to Singapore.

Chartering rates for Suezmaxes and very large crude carriers (VLCCs) have recovered rapidly in recent weeks after plunging to their lowest in more than year this summer.

The spike in rates comes as Asian refiners return to the market after a seasonal turnaround period, and as several key streams of West African crude are finally loading for export after supplies were constrained because of pipeline disruptions in Nigeria.

The higher rates, which imply fewer imports into the United States, could support benchmark oil prices in coming weeks.

Increased demand from Asia for this crude has tied up ships and barrels that might have otherwise moved to the United States. The higher prices are leaving brokers and traders scrambling to secure vessels, particularly for common routes from West Africa to the US East Coast or Western Europe.

Chinese loadings of West African crude are set to average 1.1 million barrels per day in October, the highest since April.

The interest in Suezmaxes comes at a time when two key West African crudes, Nigeria’s Qua Iboe and Forcados, return to the global market after a months-long force majeure. Rebels hit a sub-sea pipeline operated by SPDC, an affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell, in February, forcing the company to stop exports of the Forcados stream of oil.

Transporting oil on larger vessels is more cost effective, especially for longer voyages.

In September, Suezmax volumes rose by nearly 60% from August, according to one ship broker, pushing the rates for the popular West Africa-to-United Kingdom route up to 110% of the World Scale, a shipping rate benchmark. In August, that route was as low as 35%, another broker said.

That rate has since levelled off this past week but remains elevated.

Meanwhile, VLCC fixtures for October loading from West Africa are up 50% month-over-month, the first ship broker said. Last week, a VLCC moving from the Caribbean to Singapore was priced at about $ 3.85 million, up from $ 3 million just a week prior, a third broker said.

With higher rates, fewer imports could come into the US East Coast and Gulf Coast, reducing overall inventories. That could boost oil prices as refiners draw from existing storage, traders said.