Crude oil transportation costs from the Americas to Asia have exceeded $80 million per voyage, equivalent to approximately $40 per barrel, as a global shortage of available supertankers continues to disrupt international oil trade. Reuters reported from Houston on October 12 that surging freight rates, extensive ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman and shipping disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz have significantly restricted crude oil movements. The resulting transportation bottleneck has left growing volumes of heavy crude accumulating across North and South America, even as refineries in Asia and Europe struggle to secure sufficient supplies. Global benchmark crude prices have remained above $100 per barrel.
According to data from shipbroker Simpson Spence Young, chartering a very large crude carrier (VLCC) to transport approximately 2 million barrels of U.S. crude from the Gulf of Mexico to China has reached $80 million, compared with around $10 million to $15 million near the beginning of 2026. At approximately $40 per barrel, freight costs have risen sharply from the $8.60 recorded before the Iran war began in late February. Shipping analyst June Goh of Sparta Commodities said VLCC freight rates on the U.S. Gulf Coast-to-Asia and Fujairah-to-East routes have increased by more than 300% since mid-August.
The surge has also spread to transatlantic routes. According to Signal Maritime analyst Georgios Sakellariou, transporting crude from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Europe cost approximately $46 million per supertanker voyage last week, equivalent to $24.50 per barrel, including ship-to-ship transfer expenses and other associated charges. Before the conflict began in late February, comparable transportation costs stood at approximately $6.5 million, or $4 per barrel. Prolonged transfer operations in the Gulf of Oman have tied up vessels that would otherwise be available for international shipments, while increasing crude movements from the Atlantic Basin to Asia have intensified competition for tanker capacity.
The freight squeeze has produced an unusual divide between regional crude markets. Heavy crude prices in Canada, Colombia and Ecuador have each fallen by more than $10 per barrel over the past six weeks, reaching six-week lows, according to price reporting agency Argus Media. Western Canadian Select was recently quoted at approximately $74 per barrel, Colombia's Vasconia at $84 and Ecuador's Oriente at $76, excluding freight and insurance. Venezuelan crude was trading at around $74.50 per barrel. Despite continued demand from overseas refiners, high transportation costs have made some long-distance shipments commercially unattractive.
U.S. refineries have limited capacity to absorb the excess supply. According to the Energy Information Administration, American refineries have operated at an average weekly utilization rate of approximately 93.5% so far in 2026, the highest level in 28 years. Elevated diesel prices have encouraged refiners to maintain high operating rates, but processing capacity for additional heavy crude remains constrained. Meanwhile, rising Venezuelan exports, record Canadian crude production and the release of more than 130 million barrels from U.S. emergency oil reserves have added further volumes to the Americas. The combination of high refinery utilization and restricted export capacity has increased heavy crude inventories across the region.
Asian refiners are already reconsidering their crude procurement strategies. Reuters reported on October 9 that Japanese refiner Cosmo Oil had provisionally chartered a VLCC for approximately $81 million to load U.S. crude between November 19 and 21, while attempts by South Korea's SK Energy and commodity trader Trafigura to secure similar vessels for $76 million to $77 million were unsuccessful. Some trading firms have shifted toward smaller Aframax tankers, while refiners are examining alternative supplies from the Middle East and Latin America. The premium for the UAE's Murban crude rose above $11 per barrel against Dubai benchmarks as Asian buyers explored alternatives to increasingly expensive U.S. shipments.
