OPEC: Tanker charter rates and ship insurance premiums at ‘record highs’

[Financial News]  

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said on the 12th (local time) that the Iran war had pushed tanker charter rates and ship insurance premiums to record levels.
According to Al Jazeera, OPEC oil ministers said in a statement that costs such as charter rates and insurance premiums had “surged to more than a third of the price of crude oil,” expressing concern that high costs were “disrupting the timely and effective transportation of crude oil and petroleum products and leading to additional inflationary pressure on the global economy.”
They held ministerial-level talks that day at the ‘International Energy Forum’ in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, and issued the warning.
OPEC oil ministers struck a pessimistic note, saying higher costs had “ultimately been passed on throughout the oil value chain,” and that as a result, both producers and consumers of crude oil and petroleum products “are facing high and prolonged cost burdens, affecting global economic growth.”
The Iran war began when the United States and Israel launched a surprise airstrike on Iran on February 28. In response, Iran moved to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, which carries 20% of the world’s oil shipments. Oil shipments recovered to at least 80% of their prewar level as the United States escorted vessels along the Strait of Hormuz route off the coast of Oman, but recent intensification of Iranian attacks has disrupted oil supply chains.
Concerns are also mounting as the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline last month and have recently stepped up drone and missile attacks across the country.
Tanker charter rates and insurance premiums are soaring as vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, face the risk of attacks by Iran and the Houthi rebels. 

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