Author: omc_admin

This shift is reshaping the oil shipping landscape significantly.The global oil shipping market is undergoing a dramatic shift, with the cost of hiring the world’s largest crude tankers soaring to levels not seen in more than five years. The spike is being driven by two converging forces: new US sanctions on major Russian oil exporters and a rise in crude supply from the Middle East and the United States, reported Bloomberg.Benchmark rates for very-large crude carriers (VLCCs), each capable of hauling up to 2 million barrels of oil from the Middle East to China, jumped to nearly $137,000 a day…

Supertanker rates on the route between the Middle East and China hit their highest in five years as traders sought alternatives to Russian crude, Bloomberg has reported, citing a daily rate of $137,000 for last Friday.Friday was when the latest U.S. sanctions against Russia’s two top exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil, came into effect, spurring action to secure alternative supplies for Asian markets. The daily VLCC rate represented a 576% increase since the start of the year.VLCC rates on other routes also rose to the highest since 2020, at $116,400 a day, the report said. On routes starting from the Middle…

Max Altman’s career advice: Focus on picking the fastest-growing company.On an episode of the “20VC” podcast published on Sunday, Altman said that tech once became too focused on prioritizing mission over “winning.””I say, don’t care about the product. Don’t care about anything, just go work at the fastest growing company,” the venture capitalist said. “Because winning feels great. It feels amazing.”Altman is the cofounder of Saga, a $125 million venture fund that launched last March. Its investments include defense tech startup Anduril, Reddit, and Rippling. He is the younger brother of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the older brother of…

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece (AP) — Even the gods need a backup plan.Organizers in Ancient Olympia held an emergency rehearsal Monday to light the flame for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games, seizing on a brief break in Greece’s stormy weather.With heavy cloud cover forecast for Wednesday’s official lighting ceremony, the flame produced Monday will be kept as a backup.An actress portraying an ancient high priestess used a concave mirror to concentrate the sun’s rays onto a torch. I took seven seconds to ignite the flame – without artificial means and preserving a tradition inspired by the original Olympic Games dating…

Oil markets remained on edge early on Monday in early Asian trade, with all eyes on reports of potential progress in the Russia-Ukraine peace talks. At the same time, a strengthening U.S. dollar is adding downward pressure to prices, with both major benchmarks having lost roughly 3% last week.At the time of writing, West Texas Intermediate was trading flat at $58.05 while Brent continued to hover around $62.58.Last week’s decline saw oil prices settle at their levels since October 21, as markets weighed the possibility that a peace deal could unlock sanctioned Russian supply.Traders are interpreting the advance in talks,…

Elon Musk’s X played a starring role in another weekend internet kerfuffle.It began when Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, posted on Saturday that the platform had rolled out a change intended to increase transparency: an “About This Account” page that, among other things, reveals the country or region where a user’s account is based. The company announced plans for the feature in October.”This is an important first step to securing the integrity of the global town square. We plan to provide many more ways for users to verify the authenticity of the content they see on X,” Bier wrote…

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The death toll in widespread flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains in Southeast Asia mounted on Monday with another person reported killed in Vietnam, and five others in Thailand with tens of thousands of people displaced.The total number of confirmed dead in Vietnam is now 91, with 11 others missing as the heavy rain that began a week ago has caused severe flooding and triggered landslides from Quang Tri to Lam Dong provinces, a stretch of 800 kilometers (500 miles) along the country’s central region, including the highlands. In Dak Lak, the worst hit province,…

Oil prices are falling. Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are moving towards a solution. This development, along with a stronger US dollar, is pushing down crude oil prices.Oil prices slipped Monday, extending losses from last week, as Russia-Ukraine peace talks edged closer to a solution and the US dollar strengthened. Brent crude futures fell 14 cents, or 0.22 per cent, to $62.42 per barrel at 0148 GMT. West Texas Intermediate was down 15 cents, or 0.26 per cent, at $57.91 a barrel. Both crude benchmarks were down about 3 per cent last week and hit their lowest settlements since…

Analysts expect Russian crude deliveries to decline significantly in December and January, with near-term volumes estimated at around 4,00,000 bpd.India’s imports of Russian crude oil are likely to fall sharply in the near term but are not expected to stop entirely, analysts said, according to PTI. Russian crude is a major feedstock for producing petrol and diesel in India.Fresh US sanctions on Rosneft, Lukoil and their majority-owned subsidiaries came into force on 21 November, making crude linked to these entities a “sanctioned molecule”. India’s imports from Russia have averaged 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, with arrivals projected…

The turbulence caused by the longest government shutdown on record may still be fresh on travelers’ minds this Thanksgiving, but experts say preparing for the usual holiday crush of winter weather, heavy traffic and crowded airports can help ease those jitters.“I think the shutdown at this point is history for air travel. The airlines understand this time of year so well. They know exactly what they need to do,” said Sheldon H. Jacobson, an airport and airlines operations expert. “The real challenge is making sure travelers can help themselves.”Here’s a guide to navigating the busiest travel week of the year:How…