Saudi's Bahri Books 14 VLCCs

Saudi Arabian shipping company Bahri chartered more than a dozen very large crude carriers (VLCCs) in Persian Gulf in 24 hours.

According to Reuters, the Saudi Arabia’s National Shipping firm has 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 spike in bookings by Bahri has helped to more than double the charter rates for VLCC amid this week’s ‘fixing frenzy’, shipping sources said. The bookings by Bahri are in addition to its own fleet of 42 VLCC’s which it mainly uses to ship Saudi oil to customers across the world, the sources said.

Meanwhile, WSJ reported that Saudi Arabia on Wednesday unveiled plans to boost its oil-production capacity to help fight a price war with Russia, as other producers launched attempts to mediate a truce.

The capacity increase comes after the kingdom instigated an oil-price war with Russia by signaling its intentions to boost production and slash prices. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak responded Tuesday, saying his country could rapidly open its own taps and add 500,000 barrels a day to its current production.