Saudi Aramco Hires Additional Tankers To Ship Crude Oil to U.S.

Vela International Marine Ltd., a unit of Saudi Aramco, the largest oil company in the world, has hired three tankers with capacity of two million barrels each to ship crude oil to U.S. The ships were hired on a rate of Worldscale 87.5, which equates to a shipping cost of $2.60 per barrel.

Worldscale points are percentage of a nominal rate (flat rate) for a specific trade route. These rates are adjusted annually based on changing fuel costs, port tariffs, and exchange rates.

Vela Marine, owns a fleet of 23 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) and most of these are already employed delivering crude to the U.S.

Saudi Arabia announced last week that it will boost oil production to nine million barrels a day in June form 8.35 million a day in May in an effort to bring down the per barrel cost, which are at record prices.