公司官员表示，随着运费接近历史高位，亚洲炼油商正转向使用小型油轮和长期租船，以及按交付基础购买中东原油等方式，以降低原料成本。
Asian refiners are turning to options such as using smaller tankers and vessels on long-term charter, and buying Middle East crude on delivered basis to cut feedstock costs as freight rates hover near records, company officials said.
10月初，油轮现货运价创下历史新高，当时中东生产国在9月增加出口，通过穿梭运输和船对船转运，将石油从霍尔木兹海峡这一关键水道运出。
Spot rates for oil tankers hit all-time highs in early October as Middle East producers ramped up exports in September using a shuttle service and ship-to-ship transfers to move oil out of the key waterway of the Strait of Hormuz.
这导致船只在波斯湾被占用，而此类运输的风险溢价也随船只袭击事件增多而上升。
That tied up vessels in the Gulf while the risk premiums for such shipments climbed as ship attacks have increased.
维托尔（Vitol）亚洲负责人基兰·加拉格尔（Kieran Gallagher）上周在一次行业会议上表示，约有80艘超大型原油船（VLCCs）正在海峡内穿梭运输。
About 80 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) were tied up shuttling through the strait, Vitol's head of Asia Kieran Gallagher told an industry conference last week.
他补充说，这使得船舶供应紧张，并将将美国原油运往亚洲的运费推高至每桶40美元。
That tightened supplies and pushed the cost of shipping US crude to Asia to $40 a barrel, he added.
交易员表示，高昂的运费抑制了亚洲和欧洲炼油商对本地区以外供应（如来自美国和非洲的原油）的需求，扩大了这些货物的现货折价。
High shipping costs have cooled demand from Asian and European refiners for supply from outside their regions, such as from the US and Africa, widening spot discounts for these cargoes, traders said.
台塑石化（6505.TW）总裁林克远（K Y Lin）对路透社表示：“运费太贵，非洲和美国的原油实际上无法运到（亚洲）。”
"Freight is too expensive so crude from Africa and the US can't really come over (to Asia)," Formosa Petrochemical's (6505.TW) President K Y Lin told Reuters.
他说：“除了（中东）生产商，几乎没有公司租船。”他补充说，亚洲买家正在使用长期租赁的船只来降低成本。
"There are not many firms chartering ships except (Middle East) producers," he said, adding that Asian buyers are using ships leased on long-term charters to keep costs down. Unlike conditions at the start of the Iran war, when crude supply was tight, freight has become a major factor in determining the economics of crude purchases, a South Korean refining source said.
一位韩国炼油业消息人士表示，与伊朗战争初期原油供应紧张的情况不同，运费已成为决定原油采购经济性的主要因素。
The Korean refiner is using a mix of spot and long-term chartered vessels and smaller Aframax-sized tankers to ship crude while it also has term cargoes coming in and inventories to draw on, the source said.
该消息人士表示，这家韩国炼油商正在使用现货和长期租船以及小型阿芙拉马克斯型油轮运输原油，同时还有定期货物到货和可动用的库存。消息人士因未获授权接受媒体采访，拒绝透露身份。
The sources declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to media. In Europe, refiners are turning to short-haul supplies within the region, pushing the North Sea dated Brent benchmark to record premiums of more than $20 a barrel last week.
在欧洲，炼油厂正转向该地区内的短途供应，上周推动北海即期布伦特原油基准价格创下每桶超过20美元的创纪录升水。
At the same time, some of the west African crude differentials have tanked to all-time lows of minus $20 a barrel to offset high freight costs, several London-based traders said.
几位伦敦石油交易员表示，与此同时，一些西非原油差价暴跌至每桶负20美元的历史最低点，以抵消高昂的运费。
Oil exports via the Middle East Gulf slowed as attacks rose on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
随着霍尔木兹海峡对油轮的袭击增加，经由中东海湾的石油出口放缓。
To increase exports, Middle Eastern producer Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) has sold cargoes loading in the next two months on delivered basis to China and India, while Saudi Aramco also sold delivered cargoes to Asian buyers for next month, traders said, absorbing shipping costs.
交易员称，为了增加出口，中东产油国阿布扎比国家石油公司已向中国和印度售出了未来两个月装船的抵达价货物，而沙特阿美公司也向亚洲买家售出了下个月的抵达价货物，由其承担海运成本。
Some Asian refiners have taken to using smaller Aframax-sized tankers that load about 600,000 barrels each versus 2 million barrels aboard a VLCC as the shipping cost per barrel came on par, traders said.
交易员表示，一些亚洲炼油厂开始使用较小的阿芙拉型油轮，每艘载油量约为60万桶，而超大型原油船（VLCC）的载油量为200万桶，因为每桶的运输成本已经相当。
For example, state Taiwan refiner CPC has bought six Aframax cargoes last week instead of its usual monthly purchase of two to three VLCCs, traders said.
交易员称，例如，台湾中油公司上周购买了6船阿芙拉型油轮的货物，而其通常的月度采购量为2至3艘超大型原油船。
South Korea's top refiner, SK Energy, has chartered Aframax tanker Samos to load US oil in early November for $23 million, according to a shipbroker.
根据一位船舶经纪人的消息，韩国顶级炼油厂SK能源公司已租用阿芙拉型油轮“萨莫斯”号，用于装载1月上旬的美国石油，费用为2300万美元。台湾中油公司和SK能源公司未立即回应置评请求。
CPC and SK Energy did not immediately respond to requests for comment. While shipping costs have taken out a chunk of refiners' gross margins estimated at above $40 a barrel, Formosa's Lin said the refinery still needs to maintain run rates to meet contractual obligations.
林姓官员表示，尽管运费侵蚀了炼油厂估计超过每桶40美元的一部分毛利，但台塑仍需维持开工率以履行合同义务。
Net refining margins were still above $10 a barrel after accounting for freight and insurance costs for Middle East oil, he added.
他补充说，在计入中东石油的运费和保险费后，净炼油利润仍然超过每桶10美元。
Morgan Stanley analysts said European refiners have delayed scheduled maintenance in the fourth quarter as they want to benefit from current high margins.
摩根士丹利分析师表示，欧洲炼油厂已推迟第四季度的计划维护，因为他们希望从当前的超高利润中获利。
"Buyers can afford to pay.
他们在报告中表示：“买家支付得起。创纪录的炼油利润和极低的库存使得原油需求对运费不敏感。”
Record refining margins and very low stocks make crude demand insensitive to freight," they said in a note.