Europe set to import record amounts of US oil this month, relying more and more on big tankers as Russian oil sanctions change global trade routes. Bloomberg writes about it..

Vessels carrying up to 1.84 million barrels a day will arrive from the US coast in March, according to tanker tracking data.. Meanwhile, smaller tankers are becoming more expensive and more often booked to transport Russian oil to Asia..

Trade boom is another consequence of Russia's war against Ukraine and sanctions. This is likely to make the tanker fleet less efficient, thereby undermining the overall supply of tankers, which carry approximately 40% of the world's oil..

A total of 11 supertankers, known in the trade as Very Large Crude Carriers or VLCCs, and 16 Suezmax-class vessels are due to arrive in Europe this month.. These large vessels now carry about 60% of the oil on the route, compared to 37% a year earlier.. Supertankers can carry about 2 million barrels of oil, while Suezmax can carry about 1 million.

Usually, even smaller tankers, known as Aframax, with a capacity of about 700,000 barrels, are used for transportation.. This is partly because there are only a few ports in Europe capable of handling supertankers, usually reserved for the longest journeys..

Today, however, Aframax tankers are in short supply as traders book ships to carry more and more Russian oil to Asia.. Major importers such as China and India are taking in large volumes as Western buyers have abandoned cargo due to sanctions against Russia.

As a result, it has become relatively cheap to hire the largest tankers to transport oil from the US to Rotterdam.. For a supertanker, that cost is about $2.70 per barrel of oil, according to analyst Victor Caton.. For the Aframax tanker on the same route, it is about $8.50 per barrel..

In addition, more US Suezmax tankers are arriving in Europe partially filled, as this is still a cheaper option than booking Aframax tankers based on price per barrel.. More US cargo is also offloading at several European ports as there are different buyers..

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Earlier it was reported that Estonia, Lithuania and Poland are calling for lowering the ceiling on Russian oil prices this month to further undermine the financing of Russian President Vladimir Putin's military machine..

According to The Wall Street Journal, U.S. President Joe Biden, during a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, told her that he did not intend to lower the previously set limit on the price of Russian oil at $60 per barrel, because the current limit supposedly works just like that,.