Journal · 23 October 2026 · 2 min read

IEA — Gulf-to-Asia tanker freight tops $37 per barrel

According to the IEA's October 2026 World Oil Market Report, by mid-October 2026 the cost of shipping crude on a very large crude carrier (VLCC) from the Persian Gulf to Asia topped $37 per barrel — more than five times pre-war levels. Freight on the US Gulf Coast-to-China route also exceeded $37 per barrel. A single VLCC voyage carrying 2 million barrels now costs over $74 million, versus under $15 million before the conflict. A similar figure — about $36 per barrel on the Gulf-to-Asia route in early October — was reported earlier, on October 15, by trade outlet EgyptOil&Gas, citing the same IEA report; on the West Africa-to-Europe route (Suezmax), freight exceeded $22 per barrel, more than four times pre-conflict levels.

Oil exports from the region haven't fallen — they've grown: per Kpler, Gulf shipments in the week to October 18 exceeded 24 million barrels per day, above the pre-war average of 23.3 million bpd. That recovery rests on costly workaround logistics: pipelines from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to terminals outside the strait, short-haul shuttle tankers through Hormuz, and ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman under US naval protection. The share of exports bypassing the Strait of Hormuz has risen from 17% before the war to 40% in September (Kpler); October alone has seen roughly 30 attacks on vessels, according to maritime security reports cited by the Wall Street Journal.

For forwarders and shippers, this means the spike in oil-shipping costs is feeding into fuel and bunker prices across all routes, not just the conflict zone — and, per the IEA, there is no credible path to price normalization in sight for 2027.

Source: gCaptain (citing IEA Oil Market Report, October 2026), Oct 21, 2026 — https://gcaptain.com/iea-gulf-oil-shipping-costs-top-37-per-barrel-five-times-pre-war-levels/