A “war risk” premium was added to regular insurance premiums for oil tankers last year after the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
Military actions in the area of Russian and Ukrainian Black Sea ports have intensified since the breakdown of the grain export deal in mid-July.
Recently, Russia reported several attacks at its Black Sea ports, which did not affect oil shipments from the region, but the risk of the attacks eventually having an impact is increasing, traders say.
The war risk premium has fallen from around 1% of the cost of cargo to around 1.20-1.25%, according to traders.
This increase means that each trip will cost $200,000 more per Suezmax tanker (which can carry 120,000 to 200,000 tonnes) if the Russian oil is destined for India. The increased bounty means the overall cost of the bounty will be almost $1 million.
While the sum is not huge, it adds to the overall costs of exporting Russian oil, which have skyrocketed since February 2022 due to the sanctions.
At the height of the crisis, Russian companies were paying up to $20 million per tanker in insurance, transport and freight costs, more than a third of the value of each shipment.
The operators added that the increase in premiums mainly concerned cargoes carrying Russian oil and refined products, while the premium for cargoes of Kazakh origin remained stable, around 1%.
“Volumes from Russia are associated with higher risks than others, but the current situation gives insurers plenty of reason to raise prices for everyone operating in Russian Black Sea ports,” he said. one of the traders.
Grain traders have expressed concerns about the security of grain shipments and the rise in the war risk premium for tankers shows that these concerns have spread to other markets.
Crude oil shipments from the Novorossiysk and CPC Black Sea terminals account for about 2% of global supply. Exports of petroleum products from Russian Black Sea ports amount to about 4 million tons per year.
(Report Moscow office, French version Corentin Chapron, edited by Kate Entringer)
2023-08-23 12:12:13
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