“You have to make money”
Diesel crisis: US dealer buys tanker fleet
10/10/2026 – 02:59 amReading time: 2 minutes
There is a diesel shortage in the USA. A Texan wants to build his own tanker fleet to bring more oil to refineries.
A Texas oil trader is apparently fed up with delays in oil shipments from the Middle East and diesel shortages. Ben Morrow, head of PIF Energy in Dallas, is planning to invest billions. He wants to spend $2 billion to build his own fleet of older ships, reports the Financial Times.
The ships should be able to transport two million barrels of oil. The raw material is to be loaded in Basra, Iraq, and then transported through the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea are transported further.
He wants to acquire 15 ships and then buy oil from the Iraqi state oil company SOMO and the Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco and send it to refineries in India, China, Indonesia and bring Europe.
“Everything is capitalist-driven, you have to make money to keep operations going,” Morrow said, according to the Financial Times, adding that the venture is about more: “Really helping this world – let’s keep this oil flowing.”
The background to the unusual measure is that few ships dare to go through the Iran to drive the threatened trade route of Hormuz. Although they try USAto protect passing tankers, but ship owners are still skeptical. In addition, insurance premiums have risen significantly due to Iranian attacks on merchant ships.
Tankers are supposed to transport oil from Iraq
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Prices have risen sharply since the Iran War
Prices for tankers and personnel have skyrocketed in the past month, particularly for ships that can be deployed to the Gulf at short notice. Captains receive up to 100,000 US dollars per month for use in this region. Most shipowners are holding on to their ships given the high freight rates for cargoes from the Middle East, which reached $1.3 million a day for a supertanker.
The average price for a 15-year-old Very Large Crude Carrier – one of the largest tanker classes – was around $160 million, according to ship broker Clarksons. That’s an increase of 44 percent in the past three months. New construction will cost about $131 million but will take too long to solve the problem now.
There is a diesel crisis in the USA. Since the Iran war began at the end of February, diesel prices in the USA have risen by more than 65 percent. Trump is therefore under great pressure before the congressional elections. His Republican Party fears losing its congressional majority. This would make it more difficult for Trump to implement his plans.
