Tankers to Store 25m Barrels of Oil At Sea
Oil traders have booked at least 12 tankers to store 25 million barrels of crude at sea in a further sign of a build-up in global stocks, reports Reuters.
To take advantage of the crash in crude prices and make a profit down the line, floating storage levels are expected to increase further in coming weeks. The play is also driving up tanker hire rates, and shipping firms have seen their share prices surge in recent days.
According to reports, at least 11 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) have been booked with storage options, rising from around five vessels at the end of last week.
Separately, the Ti Oceania - one of the world's biggest oil tankers, known as an ultra-large crude carrier with a 3 million barrel capacity - has been booked to store crude, the data and market sources say.
In the past week, trading firms including Trafigura , Vitol, Gunvor, Koch and energy major Shell have started booking oil tankers for floating storage for up to 12 months, according to ship industry sources and freight bookings seen by Reuters.
That means at least 25 million barrels are currently estimated as being earmarked for floating storage. Some of the tankers could nonetheless still be used for conventional oil transportation.