Freight rates for tankers in the Black Sea have reached a record high
Rising shipping costs and security risks have caused prices for Kazakhstan’s CPC Blend crude to fall to annual lows
Following the drone attack, tanker freight rates in the Black Sea reached record highs / Photo: Shutterstock.com / Leonid Sorokin
Freight rates for oil tankers sailing from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean have risen to record levels following a series of drone attacks, according to Bloomberg. This has led to a decline in prices for CPC Blend, Kazakhstan’s main export crude.
Daily earnings for tankers on this route rose to $440,948. This is the highest figure in the history of the Baltic Exchange’s records, which Bloomberg has been tracking since 2008. The rate is calculated for shipments of 135,000 metric tons traveling from the Russian port of Novorossiysk to the Sicilian port of Augusta. Since early July, when the most recent attacks on tankers occurred, it has jumped by 140%.
Rising freight and insurance costs have led to a narrowing of the differentials for Kazakhstan’s CPC Blend crude, two traders active in this market told the agency. According to them, potential buyers are acting cautiously, as they expect freight rates to drop sharply once the situation at the export terminal returns to normal.
Shipments of CPC Blend this month will be reduced by a third compared to the original plan due to repeated disruptions at the terminal near Novorossiysk, according to Bloomberg. Loading operations there have been suspended repeatedly in recent weeks following drone attacks on ships attempting to enter the port. Following negotiations involving the U.S., Ukraine agreed not to strike certain tankers not affiliated with Russia or Black Sea infrastructure necessary for the export of Kazakh oil.
On Tuesday, on the Platts pricing platform—operated by S&P Global Commodity Insights—CPC Blend traded at its lowest price in more than a year. TotalEnergies purchased 90,000 metric tons of CPC Blend from oil trader Gunvor for delivery in late August–early September at a discount of $4.6 per barrel to the Dated Brent benchmark. This is the lowest price since January 2025.
The average CPC Blend spread against North Sea Dated Brent fell sharply in July as insurers roughly doubled war risk premiums in the region, the International Energy Agency reported in its monthly report on August 12.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
