Oil tanker route earnings near $510K daily amid Iran war impacts

Shipping oil through the Middle East has become one of the most lucrative businesses on the planet right now. Earnings for very large crude carriers on the Middle East-to-Asia route have surged to nearly $510,000 per day as of mid-August 2026, with average daily VLCC earnings earlier in 2026 reaching between $385,000 and $470,000. The Strait of Hormuz problem The Iran conflict, which escalated with US and Israeli military strikes on February 28, has turned the Strait of Hormuz into something between a bottleneck and a minefield. About 20% of the world’s oil flows through that narrow waterway, which means any disruption there sends shockwaves through the entire global energy supply chain. Multiple security incidents in the region have created persistent vessel shortages. Tankers that would normally cycle through the strait on routine voyages are either delayed, rerouted, or sitting idle as floating storage. The result: spot time-charter equivalent earnings for VLCCs have been in six-figure territory for extended stretches throughout 2026, with average daily earnings hovering between $385,000 and $470,000 even before the latest spike. A fragile 60-day ceasefire between Iran and the U...