Rush to Replace Russian Oil Sees Supertanker Freight Rates Jump

Supertanker freight futures have soared after the US’s sanctioning of two major Russian oil producers spurred buyers of the crude to seek alternatives.

Front-month forward freight agreements on the benchmark Middle East-to-China route spiked almost 16% to the highest since early 2023 on Thursday, Baltic Exchange data show. Contracts for December on the same route undertaken by very-large crude carriers rose almost 13%.