The cost to ship oil products from the US Gulf Coast to Chile has jumped about 30 percent after the Feb. 27 earthquake disrupted Chile’s refining industry.

Rates for clean tankers, which move gasoline and diesel, on the route have risen to about $1.25 million per voyage from about $950,000 before the earthquake, according to freight derivatives broker Imarex ASA.

About five to six cargoes have already been booked since the earthquake, said Mike Reardon, a Houston-based vice president at Imarex, equal to the six clean tankers a month that typically go from the US to Chile.

“People are hoping fuel prices will rise in Chile since the refineries have been down,” said Reardon, adding that charterers can still cancel the bookings within a limited time if prices do not rise high enough. “Tankers have been booked but still need final confirmation. People are getting everything ready to go. They just need to pull the trigger.”

The US exported about 17.3 million barrels of distillate fuel and 1.16 million barrels of gasoline to Chile in 2009, according to Energy Department data.

In addition to the recent bookings, some charters who booked tankers to other destinations in the region before the earthquake have options in their contracts that will allow them to redirect shipments to Chile, and they “are trying to get the options,” said Rob Bransfield, a broker at New York-based shipping brokerage McQuilling Brokerage Partners. (Bloomberg)