Insurance rates for tankers going through the Strait of Hormuz have skyrocketed tenfold in the two months since the first attacks on tankers off the coast of the UAE, CNBC reports, quoting the chief executive of a shipping company. The news could reinforce anticipation of higher oil prices, not because of fundamental factors but because of insurance rates. The first link in a chain of events that may send prices higher took place in late May, when Middle Eastern media reported attacks on four tankers off the coast of the port of Fujairah, in the Persian Gulf and close to the Strait of Hormuz. Then, about two weeks later, another attack was reported , this time in the Gulf of Oman, right out of the Strait of Hormuz. Finally, Iran shot down a U.S. drone claiming it was flying over its territory. After the U.S. blamed both tanker attacks […]