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Oil Tanker Rates News

19 Oct 2022

Crude Tanker Rates Expected to Stay Strong Despite Russia Turmoil

© aerial-drone / Adobe Stock

Prospects for the crude oil tanker market are expected to stay strong for at least the next year helped by low ship ordering, despite the loss of some trade from Russia due to Western sanctions, leading ship operators say.Russia has increased exports to Asia, Africa and South America following the imposition of Western sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine.

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.

30 Mar 2020

Oil Tanker Rates Double

© Vladamir / Adobe Stock

Supertanker freight rates are on the rise for a second time this month as producers, refiners and traders scramble to secure ships to transport crude or store a fast-growing global glut of oil, industry sources said.Freight rates for very large crude-oil carriers (VLCC) along the Middle East Gulf to China route were assessed at about $180,000 a day on Monday, up from some $125,000 on Friday and a weekly low of about $90,000 a day on Wednesday, according to several ship broking sources.Its difficult to say whether or not the rates will be sustained…

18 Jul 2016

Med-Black Sea Oil Tanker Rates Weaken After Failed Coup in Turkey

The cost of shipping oil through the Black Sea and Mediterranean fell on Monday after a failed coup in Turkey over the weekend and shipping sources said there were no disruptions through Istanbul's vital Bosphorus Strait. More than 290 people were killed and around 1,400 wounded in the violence on Friday night, as soldiers commandeered tanks, attack helicopters and fighter jets in a bid to seize power, strafing parliament and the intelligence headquarters and trying to seize the main airport and bridges in Istanbul. The Bosphorus, which bisects Istanbul, is a chokepoint for oil that handles over three percent of global supply - mainly from Russia and the Caspian Sea.

04 Dec 2015

Oil Tanker Rates Soar

The cost of shipping crude surged to all destinations, amid speculation that bookings are increasing to load crude. According to a report in Bloomberg, the oil tanker rates soared to the highest in seven years amid an acceleration in the number of bookings and signs that the ships are being delayed when unloading due to a lack of space in on-land storage tanks. Day rates for 2 million-barrel carrying ships sailing to Japan from Saudi Arabia, the industry’s benchmark route, surged to $111,359, the highest since July 2008, according to the Baltic Exchange in London. Rates to the three destinations monitored by the Baltic Exchange in London all rose on Wednesday by 21 percent as measured by the industry’s standard Worldscale system.

19 Nov 2015

Tanker Rate Spike Dents Efforts to Store Oil Glut at Sea

Record high freight rates are creating more headaches for traders looking to house millions of barrels of unsold crude oil and who already face potential losses due to record high stocks. They have to decide on whether to use tankers for longer term storage until they can sell their cargoes, or dump them at even more discounted prices in order to keep wells running. This is expected to come at a bigger cost as rates for supertankers have soared - reaching their highest since 2008 at over $100,000 a day last month and currently around $70,000 a day. Some have already been caught out with extra oil, and had no choice but to keep it on vessels. Trade sources said the expensive freight meant this was not a money-making play - and is unlikely to become one any time soon.

15 Oct 2014

Floating Storage at Sea Stalls Despite Falling Oil Prices

Despite falling oil prices, traders in recent weeks have booked just a few tankers to store cargoes at sea as higher freight costs outweigh any profit play for now. This is partly due to expectation among tanker owners for higher rates in the final quarter of the year. That means oil traders will have to pay a premium to lease vessels for longer periods as shipping firms remain reluctant to tie up vessels given the potential for quicker earnings. "Owners will not do storage and miss out on the spot rallies to come," a tanker market source said. "There is not much incentive for owners. For the first time in several years, the price curve for Brent crude oil futures is now fully in "contango", meaning that every ICE futures month is trading below the subsequent month.

13 Nov 2013

Sharp Upturn in Crude Oil Tanker Rates

Tanker operator’s hopes have been buoyed recently by a sharp upturn in crude tanker rates. Historically, tanker rates over the last two months of the year are the seasonally strongest, and this seems to be playing out this year, according to PIRA Energy Group's latest Market Recap. VLCC rates have risen to the highest levels since November 2012, supported by the end of the Far East refinery maintenance period and record levels of Chinese imports. Western fixtures are also high in November as term contract formula prices for Saudi, Kuwaiti and other Mideast grades, which are indexed to U.S. domestic sour crudes, are more than $10.00 per barrel below those for shipments to Europe and Asia. PIRA Energy Group report that on the week, U.S.

18 Oct 2013

Russian Oil Tanker Rates Rise 51% in Two Days

The cost of shipping Russian oil to northwest Europe had the biggest two-day jump since April as traders accelerated bookings of tankers to load at the end of this month, curbing the number available for charter, reports Bloomberg. Rates for Aframaxes shipping 100,000 metric tons to Wilhelmshaven in Germany from Primorsk on the Baltic Sea climbed 51 percent to 113 Worldscale points, reports Bloomberg citing the Baltic Exchange , a London-based publisher of freight prices on more than 50 trade routes. That equals daily earnings of $47,168, almost three times what the ships made on Oct. 15. Shipments of oil on Aframaxes from the Baltic will rise 5 percent to about 1.7 million barrels a day this year, estimates Clarkson Plc, the world’s largest shipbroker.

04 Apr 2012

Falling Oil Tanker Rates Pose Growing Safety Concern

Despite high crude oil prices, oil tankers are facing trying times, as rates around the world continue to fall, according to Bloomberg. While concerns about supply have pushed up the price of crude oil, actual demand remains relatively low with many economies around the world slowing. This has combined with an overabundance of tanker ships to push down oil tanker rates, placing increasing pressure on many in the industry to cut costs. It’s a large concern, according to industry experts, who fear that shipowners will feel the need to reduce costs on vessels. One of the ways to reduce costs on vessels is by cutting crews and also maintenance. Through March, 15 crew members were killed in four separate oil tanker fires, highlighting the seriousness of the problem.

08 Oct 2001

NOL Reports Half Profit of $1M

In summarizing his company's results, Flemming R. "We have achieved much. We came from a difficult past and we are on the right track to return to full health, but we are not there yet. We would have preferred a little more time to consolidate all we have achieved and are achieving before having to deal with a severe downturn in the economic environment like this one. "Today the NOL Group is clearly focused on building its three core businesses: APL, the Liner business; APL Logistics (APLL); and the tanker business, American Eagle Tankers (AET). Volumes in Europe were up 14 percent and rates up 1 percent, while in Asia/Middle East rates were up three percent.

07 Sep 2001

NOL Reports First Half Profit of $11M

In summarizing his company's results, Mr. Flemming R. "We have achieved much. We came from a difficult past and we are on the right track to return to full health, but we are not there yet. We would have preferred a little more time to consolidate all we have achieved and are achieving before having to deal with a severe downturn in the economic environment like this one. "2001 is proving a tough year -- and, while this result is disappointing, we have to remember where we started from and accept that sustained profitability is not achieved magically overnight," Jacobs said. The Group recorded serious losses in 1997-98 when the Asian crisis hit just as it had purchased the American liner business, APL.

17 Dec 1999

North Sea Rates Surge On Holiday Vessel Shortage

North Sea oil tanker rates surged spectacularly again on Dec. 13 on a shortage of vessels available before Christmas, shipping brokers said. Aframax 80,000 ton vessel rates shot up a further 25 Worldscale points to W150 ($5.50 per ton) from a highest seen of W125 ($4.25) on Friday, they said. "The North Sea has gone bananas. It is very tight on tonnage for modern ships up until loading dates of around December 27," a broker said. However, he said the second half of the week could go flat again as charterers completed fixing their December cargoes. Rates were also firming in the Mediterranean as pressure was exerted from the North Sea with cross journey rates of W105-110 ($3.60-3.75) the norm, brokers said.

30 Dec 1999

Crude Tanker Rates Hold Firm Ahead Of Holiday

Crude oil tanker rates maintained recent strength as markets continued active ahead of the Christmas break, shipping brokers said on Dec. 23. "Aframax and Suezmax markets are still bouyant; only VLCCs are still struggling along," one broker said. Tankers were fixed ahead of the holidays next week which would leave just Wednesday and Thursday for London brokers to trade. Not much activity was expected then. Continued shortage of tonnage for prompt dates were holding UK-Continent Aframax rates in the region of W150-160 ($5.50-5.85 per ton), slipping from a high of W165 achieved early this week. Cross Mediterranean voyages for the 80,000 ton vessels could achieve up to W122.5 ($4.20 per ton) while rates from the Mideast to Far East were about W130 ($13.75). Caribbean - upcoast U.S.