According to Jin10, Russell Hardy, chief executive of Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trader, said ship-to-ship crude transfers in the Gulf of Oman have helped keep Middle Eastern oil flowing out, and that without them oil prices could reach $200 per barrel, making it crucial to maintain the transfers. He said Western countries have no more inventories left to draw down. In recent weeks, ship-to-ship transfer activity has risen sharply. Some estimates show oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz have now reached or even exceeded the prewar level of about 20 million barrels per day. Hardy said the oil crisis is turning into a shipping crisis, adding that shuttle transport through the Strait of Hormuz is "highly inefficient," with inefficient tanker-to-tanker transfers squeezing global tanker capacity and pushing freight rates to unprecedented highs. Data showed that in early October, the average daily earnings of global crude tankers broke a record high of more than $500,000, 10 times the 2025 average. The cost of shipping crude from Saudi Arabia to Rotterdam has also surged from $2 per barrel to more than $35 per barrel, adding further pressure on fuel prices.