Indian oil refiners, including Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Indian Oil and HPCL, could see a surge in crude tanker rates, which will hurt their margins, after the US sanctioned some units of Chinese tanker giant COSCO in late September, restricting tonnage supply across the globe.
Spot rates for hauling cargo on oil super tankers, aframaxes and suezmaxes have jumped five-fold after the US sanctions took effect. Crude tanker operators are having the best time in more than a decade, but the measure will hurt refiners, whose annual shipping bills had been kept low for years by low tanker rates.
