The US will turn some “dark fleet” oil tankers into legitimate ships, allowing tankers under sanctions to begin a process to legitimately ship oil.
Investors are proposing to buy idled sanctioned tankers, refurbish them and use them to transport non-sanctioned oil, US energy secretary Chris Wright said at a Citadel Securities event in New York.
“We’re going to move some of the ships from what I call the ‘bad-guy fleet’ to the ‘good-guy fleet,” Wright said. “They will not carry sanctioned oil anymore.”
The official said these dark tankers, numbering “dozens to hundreds,” would be converted to legitimate tankers.
“They’ve got to change their stripes,” Wright stated. “And so there’s an approval process to go through that.”
He pointed out the move’s impact on shipping costs would take some time, “but it’ll be meaningful.”
Wright pushed back on the idea that sanctions are simply being lifted. “We are converting dark tankers to legitimate tankers,” he said. “There’s no removing of sanctions,” he clarified.
He put the global “dark fleet” at roughly 1,600 vessels and said the effort could ultimately add “dozens” or even “hundreds” of tankers to the legitimate fleet.
His remarks provided the first thorough public outline of a plan intended to increase the pool of vessels able to move crude and to shore up supply that has been hit by the war in Middle East and by the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz.
The perils of transporting oil through the strait have sent shipping fees skyrocketing. The conflict has sharply increased the cost and risks of moving oil through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global energy supplies.
In addition, Wright also defended the administration’s decision to work with Russian president Vladimir Putin to release Russian diesel supplies onto global markets.
He said the arrangement was partly intended to give the Kremlin an incentive to end the war.
“If you can produce more diesel than you consume, you can export it to the world. Well, what’s their route to do that? They can end the conflict in Ukraine,” Wright said.
“That would be a real plus. They could get an energy ceasefire with the Ukrainians and fix their refineries, or they can reduce their consumption of diesel for war fighting activities,” he said.
“So if they change their behaviour, and all of these are steps towards peace in the conflict, and you have surplus diesel, where you can export it to the world.”
Trump announced recently a deal with Russian president Putin to immediately supply over 300,000 tons of diesel fuel to the American and global marketplace, 500,000 tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 tons immediately thereafter.
Additionally, based on the condition of their diesel refineries, Trump said Russia will then deliver, within a short period of time, 3,000,000 tons of diesel fuel.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said proposals to ease or postpone sanctions on Moscow amounted to a “denial of reality” as strikes continued.
“When missile supplies for Ukrainian air defense are blocked, while Russia receives sanctions relief or delays, this is, unfortunately, a denial of reality on the part of our partners,” Zelenskyy wrote Monday on X.
