According to CoinMeta, affected by concerns about disruptions in Middle Eastern supply, the transportation costs of US crude oil to Asia have risen to a record high, reaching $44.8 million. Data from the Baltic Exchange shows that as of Tuesday, the cost of chartering a very large oil tanker to transport 2 million barrels of US Gulf of Mexico crude oil to Asia was approximately $44.8 million, which is a further increase from $39 million the previous day. Before the outbreak of the Iran war, the transportation cost for this route was around $17.8 million. Due to the disruption of energy supply caused by the Middle Eastern situation, US crude oil has become an important source to fill the supply gap. Saudi Arabia previously closed the east-west oil pipeline connecting the eastern and western coasts, exacerbating market concerns about supply risks through the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the significant increase in freight costs, Asian buyers are still willing to bear higher transportation costs because US crude oil still has a price advantage over other competitive crude oils once it arrives in Asia. Data from research institution Kpler shows that six very large oil tankers are planned to load crude oil from the US Gulf of Mexico and head for Asia in October.