China is on an oil-supertanker hiring spree, a sign energy demand has sped up after the world’s second-largest economy limped out of its Covid-19 lockdowns.
Traders carry crude to China, the world’s biggest oil importer, in Eiffel Tower-size tankers called Very Large Crude Carriers that each lug two million barrels of oil. The cost of chartering the most coveted type of these tankers, featuring modern exhaust systems, has shot up to nearly $100,000 a day, ship brokers say. That is double the rate from a month ago.
