Weird News: Saudi Oil Tanker Hijacked by Pirates

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Weird News: Saudi Oil Tanker Hijacked by Pirates

by Josh Loposer (Subscribe to Josh Loposer's posts)
Nov 18th 2008 @ 8:00AM

Filed under: News, GreenFinance

For the first time in recent history, a tanker loaded with 2 million barrels of oil has been hijacked and the crew held captive for two days by honest to goodness, old-fashioned pirates off the coast of Kenya. Crazy, right? As predicted by many peak oil experts during the global fuel crisis, the battle for resources in developing nations has escalated -- only, the timing is a bit puzzling. Now that oil is teetering around, $50/barrel it seems like these pirates have really missed the boat.

After perusing the news of the last two weeks, it looks like the high seas may once again become center stage for newsworthy confrontations. With Greenpeace blocking palm oil shipments, and the Japanese setting out on a new whaling expedition, international waters were already starting to heat up. Still, this pirate action really took me off guard.

Did the fuel price surge of 2008 really generate a black market for stolen oil that large? I knew that thieves were raiding unguarded fuel tanks, but can these pirates really find a buyer for 2M barrels of oil?

Comments [1]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-18-2008 @ 12:30PM

Alex said...

Josh, do a little more research. The pirates don't want to sell the oil on the black market, they want a ransom for the safe return of the cargo and 25 crew members. They will most likely get it since military intervention would probably lead to the deaths of several or all hostages.

Raiding fuel tanks is a bit different than stealing oil. Fuel can be used right away or easily sold. Oil is harder to move - the pirates would either need their own refinery to turn it into fuel or would need a buyer who owns a refinery and can make use of crude oil.

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