Vitol CEO Warns Tanker Shortage Could Push Oil Prices to $200 a Barrel

According to Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing the Financial Times, Russell Hardy, CEO of Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trading company, warned at the London Energy Information conference that the energy crisis stemming from West Asia conflicts has entered a new phase, with a tanker shortage, rather than a crude oil shortage, now the market's main challenge. He said that despite rising oil exports from the Persian Gulf (around 12,000,000 barrels of crude and 2,000,000 barrels of products per day), buyers' inability to secure vessels has driven a sharp jump in tanker charter rates. Hardy warned that halting this export flow, which he said has drained world oil and fuel reserves after seven months of the US war on Iran, could push oil prices to 200 dollars a barrel. He said North Sea crude traded at 145 dollars a barrel last week and that European refining margins have turned negative, while US refining margins remain above 70 dollars a barrel.