Four oil tankers Aliai, Minerva Vaso, Grand Ace6 and Elka Delphi recently refueled in diesel in the US and began crossing the Atlantic, according to data from Vortexa and ship tracking systems compiled by Bloomberg.
Initially, the Aliai ship sent a signal towards Gibraltar, while the other 3 ships were heading towards Amsterdam.
However, then all 4 ships suddenly changed direction: Grand Ace6 ship is currently signaling to Lome, in Togo, West Africa, while the remaining 3 ships are moving southeast.
In total, these ships are carrying about 1.2 million barrels of diesel fuel.
The sudden change of direction of oil tankers takes place in the context of the Iranian conflict disrupting the global energy supply chain, when the Strait of Hormuz - an important oil transport route - is almost closed.
As the market loses millions of barrels of oil from the Persian Gulf, fuel supplies in Asia are under strong pressure. Traders and analysts warn that Europe may face shortages in the next few weeks.
Diesel prices in Asia have skyrocketed. Part of the shipment of these ships may be transferred to buyers in the east, showing the extent of the crisis's spread in the global energy market.
Europe will eventually be under pressure, but Asia is currently the most tense place" - Mr. Philip Jones-Lux, senior oil analyst at Sparta Commodities, commented on diesel supply.
According to him, Europe may lack refined oil products, but there is still enough crude oil for processing. Meanwhile, in Asia, oil refining activities are decreasing due to a shortage of crude oil supply.
The European Union (EU) and the UK are net importers of diesel fuel, a type of fuel used for trucks, construction machinery and many other fields. One of the main diesel suppliers is India, but currently shipments from this South Asian country are being transferred to other markets.
In the past week or so, all diesel exports from India have been directed to Southeast Asia. Prices in Asia are much higher than in Europe, pulling diesel shipments to the east," said Mick Strautmann, market analyst at Vortexa.
Although some shipments from the US have diverted from Europe, there are still many ships en route to this area, according to Vortexa data.
In addition, the agreement between member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) on oil discharge from reserves will help reduce supply pressure in the short term. According to previous experience, most of the products launched to the market will be diesel.
In April, imports into Europe will decrease sharply. Currently, most of the supply will come from the US, the only region capable of offsetting the shortfall," said George Shaw, an analyst at Kpler.
In addition, any prolonged disruption to shipments from Russia's port of Primorsk in the Baltic region - a major diesel export center that was once attacked by Ukraine - will also tighten global supply.
