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Worldscale Association News

25 Feb 2022

Oil Tanker Rates are Soaring

©alexyz3d/AdobeStock

Oil tanker rates are soaring globally as traders scramble to cope with jitters over possible disruption in Russian supplies, as well as war risk premiums for ships plying the Mediterranean region following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.Shipowners are also grappling with higher fuel costs after oil prices soared nearly $2 per barrel on Friday, with Brent back above $100. The global energy sector is concerned that Europe and the United States may impose sanctions on Russian exports and severely disrupt supplies.

17 Dec 2014

INTERTANKO Launches ECA Bunker Surcharge Clauses

Photo: Teekay Tankers

INTERTANKO’s documentary committee has launched bunker surcharge clauses for Emission Control Areas (ECA). Rising bunker prices due to rising oil prices and volatility in global politics can have a dramatic effect on trade as they fluctuate not just day to day, but also port to port. Bunker fuel costs today form the largest part of owners’ expenses, ranging from 40-60% of the overall operating costs of a ship. The tightening of regulations in Emission Control Areas (ECAs) requiring the use of low sulphur content fuels not only carries with it the risk of fines…

05 Jan 2001

Tanker Market Crawls Back To Work

As charterers crawled slowly back to their offices this week, brokers said they were struggling to ascertain where exactly the market stood. Uncertainty over the size of future OPEC cuts, continued Iraqi delays as well as renewed talk of recession in the U.S. all conspired to create doubt over short-term tanker demand. VLCCs heading West from the Mideast Gulf were fetching W100, while those going East were fetching W127, brokers said. Though this looks like a huge drop compared to the W182 that eastbound VLCCs were demanding during the first week of December, the figures are incomparable after the Worldscale Association completed its annual adjustment of flat rates on January 1. Brokers said on Friday that rates should rally when Saudi Aramco releases its cargo nominations next week.

02 Feb 2001

Low Freight Rates Cut Costs for Importers

Oil freight costs that have fallen sharply from record peaks two months ago are helping reduce energy import bills already eased by lower crude prices. Tanker market experts said freight charges that rocketed to unexpected heights in November looked set to remain under control over the next six months at least. Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) delivering crude to Japan and Singapore from the Middle East now charge about Worldscale 85, $1.40 per barrel, having peaked last November at W190, $2.65 a barrel. Supertanker rates to the United States also are lower at about $2.30 a barrel from the Gulf $3.20 a barrel in November. "More new ships will be coming in…

20 Feb 2001

Worldscale Goes To The Internet

Worldscale, the 500-page annual guide to tanker freight rates, is going to become available via the Internet as of March 5, 2001. The site has been jointly developed by the Worldscale Associations in London and New York, and tested among existing subscribers. “This is the most significant advance in the Worldscale product since the concept was introduced more than 40 years ago,” said Iain Shaw, chairman of the Worldscale Association (London) Ltd. and CEO of Seascope Shipping Ltd. The organization believes that the Internet version – which is designed as a “no frills” package with minimal graphics – offers many advantages to the printed guide.

23 Aug 2006

Frontline 2Q Net Drops 46 Percent on Older Vessels

Frontline Ltd., the world's second- biggest oil tanker company, said second-quarter profit slumped a greater-than-expected 46 percent as earnings declined for its older 1 million-barrel tankers. Net income dropped to $68.6 million, or 92 cents a share, from $127.5 million, or $1.70, in the year-earlier period, Hamilton, Bermuda-based Frontline said today in a statement. Frontline, led by Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen, has failed to earn as much as rivals such as OMI Corp. and General Maritime Corp. from its 1 million-barrel ships, or suezmaxes, because almost half have single-layer hulls. Companies such as Total SA and Exxon Mobil Corp. have begun shunning such ships before an international ban, in favor of safer double-hull vessels.

19 Nov 1999

Houlder Sells Holdings In Tanker Broker Panel

Shipbroker Howard Houlder (Chartering) Ltd. has sold its shareholdings in the London Tanker Broker Panel back to the other five members of the rate-setting group, panel managing director Robert Porter said. "Howard Houlder is no longer a panel member," Porter said. Porter said he did not know why Houlder had decided to leave the panel - an independent body providing tanker rate/route assessments, for which fees are charged. Houlder had been in negotiations for some time with Capital Shipbrokers Ltd. to sell its shares for approximately $1.1 million, according to other brokers and press reports. A spokesman at Capital said the company could give no comment on the breakdown of negotiations. No one was immediately available at Houlder for comment.

19 Nov 1999

Rising Bunker Prices To Push Worldscale Rates Up

Increasing bunker prices will push Worldscale tanker rates up by around 1.5 percent next year but prices on some routes will fall due to lower port dues and exchange rate fluctuations, the Worldscale Association said. The average bunker fuel price used for rate calculations would rise to $86.50 in 2000, from $82.75 in 1999, but varying port charges and currency exchange rates would mean some Worldscale route assessments fell. Bunker prices have soared this year to around a current $130 a ton from about $55 in February, but the Worldscale assessment is based on an average of the period between October 1998 and the end of September 1999.

30 Dec 1999

Intertanko, Worldscale Address Bunker Price

Intertanko's Worldscale Committee met with Worldscale Association Ltd.'s Management Committee on Nov. 10. The large discrepancy between the current actual bunker prices and the bunker price assumption upon which the Worldscale Schedule's 2000 edition will be based was the major issue at the meeting. The bunker price to be used in the 2000 edition has been assessed at USD 86.50 per ton, that being the average price during the period of Oct. 1, 1998 through Sept. 30, 1999. Bunker prices have fluctuated widely during the 12-month period under review. For a long while they were in the $50-$60 region, whereas current bunker prices are closer to $150.