Supertanker Shortage Lifts Crude Shipping Costs, Cuts Long-Haul Trade

The real signal here is a freight-led distortion of crude flows, not an oil demand story: when tanker scarcity makes long-haul routes uneconomic, barrels get rerouted or absorbed regionally, which can widen regional price spreads even as headline crude stays supported. This affects refiners and traders exposed to Houston-to-Asia economics, plus anyone tracking freight as an inflation input. The open question is whether the vessel shortage persists or eases, since that determines whether this stays a logistics story or feeds broader volatility, as Maley flags.