Energy Industry Grapples With Fallout From Suez Canal Blockage [Video]

The fallout from the Suez Canal blockage rippled through the energy industry Thursday, with the cost of renting tankers rising and shippers starting to plot alternative routes for supplies of oil and gas.

As efforts continued to dislodge the giant container ship blocking all traffic on one of the world’s busiest shipping arteries, yet more new vessels joined the crowded entrance to the waterway, according to ship brokers.

The 120-mile Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean, is a vital route for tankers carrying oil and natural gas. About one-tenth of the world’s seaborne oil trade flowed through it and the associated Sumed—or Suez-Mediterranean—pipeline in 2018, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Amid expectations that the blockage could take days to clear, brokers said some shippers are seeking replacements for deliveries that used to transit through the Suez. As such, the cost of renting some tankers for voyages from the Middle East to Asia has …