Ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman that keep oil flowing from the Middle East provide a lifeline to Gulf producers and to the oil market, according to Russell Hardy, chief executive officer at the world’s biggest independent oil trader, Vitol Group. “Without it, you do have that $200-a-barrel scenario, so it is pretty important it continues,” Hardy said at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London this week. “There aren’t any more inventories to drain in the West.” The ship-to-ship (STS) transfers, in which…