Black Sea Oil Tanker Rates Surge to Record on Drones Barrage

(Bloomberg) — Freight costs for oil tankers shipping crude from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean have risen to a record after a flurry of drone attacks, driving down prices for Kazakhstan’s main CPC export grade. 

Daily earnings for tankers on the route rose to $440,948, climbing to the highest in Baltic Exchange data compiled by Bloomberg starting in July 2008. The rate, which is based on 135,000-ton shipments from Novorossiysk on Russia’s Black Sea coast to Sicily’s Augusta, has jumped 140% since the most recent attacks began in early July.

Differentials for CPC crude have fallen