Bahri leases up to 14 super-tankers to support rising oil output, sources say

Saudi National Shipping Co. (Bahri) tentatively chartered as many as 14 super-tankers to ship crude oil to customers worldwide, as the Kingdom follows through with its promise to boost crude oil output.

The rise in bookings by Bahri helped to more than double super-tankers shipping rates amid this week’s ‘fixing frenzy’, Reuters reported, citing sources.

VLCC tanker rates along the Middle East Gulf to China route have more than doubled to about $70,000 per day on Wednesday, up from about $30,000 per day on Monday, according to several ship broking sources.

Bahri currently owns a fleet of 42 very large crude-oil carriers (VLCC) super-tankers.

According to data compiled by Argaam, Saudi Aramco announced that it received a directive from the Ministry of Energy to increase its maximum sustainable capacity (MSC) to 13 million barrels per day (mbpd) from 12 mbpd.

The oil giant announced yesterday that it will supply its customers with 12.3 mbpd of crude oil in April, an increase of 300,000 barrels per day from the MSC of 12 mbpd.