Bloomberg: Shell Hired Most Tankers in 2011, Unipec Was Second, Poten Says

“Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s biggest oil company, was the world’s largest charterer of tankers to haul crude in 2011 even as Asian traders increased market share, Poten & Partners said. Shell hired 661 tankers, or 7 percent of all charters reported by shipbrokers, according to a report by New York-based Poten published Jan. 6. China International United Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Unipec, ranked second with 586 tankers, it showed. The Asian company was the 14th-largest charterer five years ago and fifth-biggest in 2010, Poten said. ‘The influence of increased Chinese activity on the development of the market cannot be overstated,’ Poten said in the report, which ranked companies that hired the four most popular classes of tankers for single voyages.”