Saturday, 20 June 2009
Oil tankers are anchored off the Dutch coast, unable to deliver their cargo to the port of Rotterdam because its oil facilities are filled to capacity, but also because it is more profitable. Last Friday, a total of eight supertankers - very large crude carriers (VLCC) – had anchored off the Dutch coast, half of them fully loaded. Each of them can carry up to 2 million barrels of crude oil, enough to fill up 6 million small cars.
These supertankers could reach the port of Rotterdam, Europe's biggest oil refining and trade centre, in less than an hour. But they don't. There just isn't enough room, says Jeroen Kortsmit, commercial manager at Royal Dirkzwager, a maritime advisory company. "The port of Rotterdam is filled to capacity."
Rotterdam is being flooded with crude oil, which has become superfluous because of the economic slowdown. The port can normally hold up to 12.8 million cubic metres of crude oil. That's 80 million barrels, or enough to supply all 27 member states of the European Union for five days. Now the Rotterdam port is full and companies active in oil shortage, like Vopak, Oiltanking and Eurotank, are doing good business these days.
It is the same in other world ports. The global on-shore supply of crude oil reached 2.75 billion barrels in the first quarter of 2009, 180 million barrels more than a year earlier, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris. That's only half a million barrels shy of the 1998 record at the time of the Asian crisis.
The IEA says an additional 100 to 115 million barrels were stored at sea at the end of April. "We counted 28 tankers off the Dutch coast last Friday," says Kortsmit, "and only a quarter of them were empty." Floating oil storage is now back at the March level of 85 million barrels, but that's still the total global oil production for one day.
Capacity problems at the ports are not the only reason why so many oil tankers are bobbing aimlessly off the coasts. A number of them have thrown anchor there deliberately. Their cargo belongs to traders who have bought surplus oil at low prices, and are waiting for the right time to bring it on the market.
Contango
There has always been a certain amount of floating oil storage, but never in such quantities. The reason is that for a number of months oil has been cheaper on the spot market than on the futures market.
"It is what we call a contango," says Pieter Kulsen, who has been working in the oil trade for thirty years.
Traders buy cheap oil on the spot market and later sell it for much more on the futures market. The price difference is more than enough to pay for the cost of floating storage, especially since the tariffs on land are higher because of the capacity problems. Lots of people are taking advantage of this situation. "It's no use naming names," says Kulsen, "it is a widespread phenomenon in the oil business."
Meanwhile, oil prices are on the rise again. When the "contango" becomes smaller - because the spot price rises faster than the futures price - the profits will gradually decrease until there is nothing more to be gained. "At that point huge quantities of oil will become available on the market, which in turn will affect the price of oil," says Kulsen.
It could take up to six months until the floating storage has trickled back into the market. Once the economy picks up again, sailing - instead of speculating - will once again become the main activity for oil tankers. Gradually, the idle oil tankers in the North Sea should disappear as well.
Source: NRC Handelsblad
http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52643&Itemid=79
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NRC Handelsblad:
http://www.nrc.nl/international/
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20/6 2009 16:33 fcras 0
13940 Saturday, 20 June 2009
For some sizes (Suezmax and Aframax) and in particular geographical zones, this week’s market and rates have gone crazy but owners should remember that ‘trees don’t reach the sky’ ... especially in today’s general economic .................. link
http://download.hellenicshippingnews.com/pdf/BRS/tnl-627-2.pdf
20/6 2009 16:36 fcras 013941 Saturday, 20 June 2009
At the time of the last publication of the Weber Tanker Report, tanker rates had started the year poorly but owners were able to console themselves with the fact that 2008 had been a record year for rates. In the space of time between then and now .......................... link
http://download.hellenicshippingnews.com/pdf/WeberWeekly25.pdf
At the time of the last publication of the Weber Tanker Report, tanker rates had started the year poorly but owners were able to console themselves with the fact that 2008 had been a record year for rates. In the space of time between then and now .......................... link
http://download.hellenicshippingnews.com/pdf/WeberWeekly25.pdf
20/6 2009 16:43 fcras 013942 Saturday, 20 June 2009
The success of our industry over the 5 years to 2008 has supported the huge investment in new tankers and with it, the modernisation and expansion of the tanker fleet. There have been close to 1,600 new tankers above 25,000 dwt ......................... link
http://download.hellenicshippingnews.com/pdf/gibson/TMR%2020090619.pdf
20/6 2009 17:58 alpehue 013943 Ja man blir' sgu stiv af syre
når så mangen en supertanker
med alt det der dyre
ligger underdrejet for anker
og steger i grill og friture
til hjertet det heftigt banker
og fulde kaptajner må fyre
så er det godt der er nogen
små flittige myre
der skal på rekreation
som de ikke kan styre
med en stjålen million
ville troels og rebekka have sagt
når så mangen en supertanker
med alt det der dyre
ligger underdrejet for anker
og steger i grill og friture
til hjertet det heftigt banker
og fulde kaptajner må fyre
så er det godt der er nogen
små flittige myre
der skal på rekreation
som de ikke kan styre
med en stjålen million
ville troels og rebekka have sagt
