全球原油运输成本飙升，正令部分长距离原油贸易变得无利可图，并可能扰乱原油流向，而当前燃料市场的紧张程度前所未有。

The soaring cost of global crude oil transportation is making some long-distance crude oil trade unprofitable and may disrupt the flow of crude oil. Currently, the tightness of the fuel market is unprecedented.

这一轮上涨主要由可用超大型油轮短缺推动。在全球一些地区，几乎已经没有这种可供租用的油轮。运力紧张正削弱远距离原油的吸引力，并促使炼油商在能够找到货源的情况下，转而采购距离更近的供应。

This round of increase was mainly driven by the shortage of available ultra-large oil tankers. In some regions around the world, there are almost no such tankers available for rent. The tight supply situation is reducing the appeal of long-distance crude oil and prompting refineries to switch to purchasing supplies from closer locations when they can find them.

目前，从休斯敦向亚洲运输一船原油，会令供应这一全球最大原油进口地区的成本增加约每桶26美元，也就是每船增加约5，200万美元。这相当于WTI原油期货价格的大约四分之一。战前，运输成本通常只占原油总成本的一小部分。

Currently, transporting a shipload of crude oil from Houston to Asia would increase the cost of supplying this largest crude oil importing region by approximately $26 per barrel, which amounts to about $52 million per ship. This is equivalent to about a quarter of the WTI crude oil futures price. Before the war, transportation costs typically accounted for only a small portion of the total cost of crude oil.

这轮油运价格上涨正在为主导油轮市场的少数船东创造巨额财富。多名行业高管和经纪人表示，这样的涨幅过去几乎难以想象。本周，全球大型油轮上市公司的总市值升至接近700亿美元的纪录高位。

This round of oil shipping price increase is generating huge profits for a few major shipowners who dominate the oil shipping market. Several industry executives and brokers said such an increase was almost unimaginable in the past. This week, the total market value of major global oil tanker companies rose to a record high of nearly 70 billion US dollars.

但对石油交易商而言，风险在于运输成本正变得高得令人难以承受。他们担心，高昂运费会令部分炼油商加工原油生产成品油变得无利可图，从而抑制其采购需要长途运输的原油，即便柴油和汽油生产需求依然强劲。

However, for oil traders, the risk lies in the fact that transportation costs are becoming prohibitively high. They are concerned that the high freight charges will make it unprofitable for some refineries to process crude oil to produce refined oil products, thereby discouraging them from purchasing crude oil that requires long-distance transportation, even though the demand for diesel and gasoline production remains strong.

在行业最主要的基准航线上，装载200万桶原油、从波斯湾驶往中国的超大型油轮目前日收益超过120万美元。类似压力如今正蔓延至全球货运市场。

On the industry's most important shipping routes, the ultra-large oil tankers carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil from the Persian Gulf to China are currently earning over $1.2 million per day. Similar pressures are now spreading to the global freight market.

托克集团首席经济学家Saad Rahim周四在彭博大宗商品投资者论坛上表示，“运输石油从未如此昂贵。”随着运费在货值中的占比上升，“当你从物流角度考虑这个问题时，它现在就变成了一个大得多的问题。”

Saad Rahim, the chief economist of Tork Group, said at the Bloomberg Commodities Investor Forum on Thursday, "Transporting oil has never been so expensive." As the proportion of freight costs in the total value of goods increases, "When you consider this from a logistics perspective, it has now become a much bigger problem."

此前因战争扰乱能源流向而变得至关重要的一些长途航线，如今在运费飙升后吸引力正在下降。

Some long-distance shipping routes that had become crucial due to disruptions in energy transportation caused by the war are now losing their appeal as freight costs have soared.

Vortexa的船舶追踪数据显示，随着运费大约增至原来的三倍，近几周美国至亚洲的原油流量已经下降。知情人士称，一家日本炼油商最近买入一船阿拉斯加原油。该油种通常并不特别适合日本炼厂加工，但由于航程相对较短，因而具有吸引力。

Vortexa's vessel tracking data shows that as freight costs have roughly tripled, the flow of crude oil from the US to Asia has declined in recent weeks. A source said a Japanese oil refiner recently purchased a shipment of Alaska crude oil. This type of oil is usually not particularly suitable for processing by Japanese refineries, but due to the relatively short voyage, it is attractive.

相比之下，欧洲对近程原油的争抢已经反映在当地现货价格上。

In contrast, the competition for near-term crude oil in Europe has already been reflected in the local spot prices.

虽然布伦特原油期货本周最高接近每桶110美元，但欧洲Dated Brent现货原油价格升至每桶131美元以上，因买家争相寻找航程较短的原油货源。

Although the Brent crude oil futures reached a peak of nearly $110 per barrel this week, the European Dated Brent spot crude oil price rose above $131 per barrel, as buyers rushed to find cheaper crude oil supplies with shorter shipping distances.

在更远地区，通常需要航行数千英里运往中国的安哥拉原油销售则较为迟缓。

In more distant regions, it is usually necessary to travel thousands of miles to transport the Angolan crude oil to China, and the sales process is thus relatively slow.

分析公司Kpler建模高级经理Sumit Ritolia表示，“当前运费水平随着时间推移可能会形成自我限制，最终会令套利航线关闭，并降低市场对成本最高的长途原油的需求。”

Sumit Ritolia, the senior modeling manager of the company Kpler, said, "The current freight levels are likely to self-limit over time, eventually leading to the closure of arbitrage routes and reducing the market demand for the most expensive long-distance crude oil."

一艘原油油轮停靠在德克萨斯州弗里波特的Enterprise Marine Terminal码头。

An oil tanker was docked at the Enterprise Marine Terminal in Freeport, Texas.