Vitol CEO Russell Hardy said ship-to-ship transshipments in the Gulf of Oman are
sustaining Middle East exports and warned that without them oil could reach
$200/bbl, adding Western inventories have little left to draw on. STS activity
has surged in recent weeks; some estimates put flows through the Strait of
Hormuz at or above pre-war ~20 mln b/d. Hardy said the energy shock is turning
into a shipping crisis: shuttle movements through the Strait are highly
inefficient, tying up global tanker capacity and driving freight to record
levels. Data show average daily earnings for crude tankers topped $500,000/day
in early October, roughly ten times the 2025 average. Saudi-to-Rotterdam
transport costs have jumped from about $2/bbl to over $35/bbl, adding further
upward pressure on fuel prices.
