As the United States is establishing itself as one of the world’s top crude oil exporters and getting its oil a wide range of destinations, it is increasingly important to have accurate and timely information on American crude export flows, especially at a time when a tightly supplied market riddled with geopolitical uncertainty.
Since the invasion, there has been an increase in the number of vessels operating in the Black Sea with lost AIS signals for one day or more, but there is no indication yet that this increase is linked to suspicious behaviour including covert ship-to-ship (STS) activity.